Heartless
by Greenbean11
Summary: “I’m sorry, but you were gone for eight years, Hermione.” Ron told her as he looked into her eyes. “I didn’t know what happened to you and I thought you had died. But instead you show up alone with a son. You can’t blame me for jumping to conclusions.”
1. The Last Battle

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters you recongize, it would be nice though**

It had been a peaceful moonlit night when Hermione heard the first of the chorus of cheers. Although the voices sounded as though they were miles away, definitely far out of her sight, she knew deep down why everyone was happy. It was one of those feelings were you just knew. Hermione even felt part of the weight of the world lift off her shoulders when she walked out of her small cottage that evening. She knew then that they had won. The 10 year long war was finally over and the light side had won.

Hermione fell to the ground on her knees and began to cry. Some of the tears were tears of happiness, others were those of sadness. She was happy that Voldemort had finally been defeated once and for all. She would no longer have to hide in fear. She would be able to move out of the cottage and have a real permanent home and a job. She would be able to see her friends, or rather what might be left of her friends.

This is the point when her depression got the best of her and she let it all out. She hated Voldemort. She always had based upon what he had done to Harry's parents. But five years ago, Hermione wanted to kill him and torment him the same way he did to her. She cried as she thought about the incident. Hermione cried until she heard little footsteps come up from behind her.

"Mama?" A little voice asked. "Why are you crying?"

She wiped the tears away and looked at the source of the voice. A little boy was standing in the doorway of the cottage. He was about four-years-old with innocent brown eyes and hair as black as soot. The boy wearing an old large shirt Hermione had saved to serve as his pajamas. In his hands, he was holding protectively a fading blue teddy bear with one of its button eyes missing. He was looking at her with a concerned expression.

"I'm alright, sweetheart," she told him calmly as she could. "Hear that?" She cupped her ear and motioned to the cheering. "The war is over."

The boy tilted his head, wondering why everyone was so happy. To him, it never really seemed as though there was ever a war at all. He had only heard stories about it from his mother when it was his bedtime. But he could never imagine what the war had been like truly. He was never exposed to it to the point where he would have nightmares. Deciding it was unimportant, the boy shrugged and walked back into the house.

Hermione could not help but smile, although it was very faint. She followed her son back into the cottage and found him sitting on a wooden chair at the table. His teddy bear was propped up next to him on the table and his legs were swinging back and forth as he waited patiently for his mother to join him. They had been playing a game of Exploding Snap. The cards laid patiently on the table, awaiting to be touched and played with. The boy eagerly picked up his deck and waited for his mother to do the same.

When she sat down, Hermione did not make a grab for her cards. Instead, she propped up her elbow on the table and rested her head in her hand. She looked at the boy and ran her fingers through his thick dark hair, admiring how similar his hair was to another. His brown eyes looked up at her impatiently.

"Mama, are we going to play or not?" He asked her.

"Caden, isn't it time for bed?" She asked him, not only was it that time, but Hermione did not feel up to playing another game.

He looked around for any indication of the time. Frowning when there was none, Caden looked back at his mother and hoped just one more game was enough. Hermione rolled her eyes and smiled at her child before ruffling his hair. She got up from the table and walked into the boy's room. Caden made a quick grab for his bear before following her.

Caden jumped into his bed and quickly got under the blankets. "Mama, can you tell me a bedtime story?"

Hermione pulled up a chair and placed it next to the bed. "What would you like me to tell you about?" She asked him as she sat down.

The boy thought about it for a moment. "Tell me about Roland."

She stopped for a moment at the sound of her son's hero's name. Part of her was pleased, while the other part of her was in distress. Why did he want a story about Roland now? Why could he not want a tale of herself and her friends in the years before the war? But never the less, she put on a fake smile and asked him which tale she wanted him to tell about Roland.

"Tell the one about the time Roland almost killed Harold and captured the lady Hannah."

Hermione nodded slowly and began the tale of the fearless wizard Roland and his battle between what her son presumed was the evil Lord Harold and his men. She could never figure out why Caden loved this particular story of Roland so much. Maybe it was the battle itself, or maybe because it was a turning point in Roland's life, when he meets Hannah and soon becomes no longer cruel and heartless, but becomes gentle and somewhat caring, like a father figure to Caden. She smiled at the thought and placed a kiss on her son's forehead as her tale was over and his eyes were closed.

She walked out of Caden's room and shut the door silently. An owl was on the wooden table where the Exploding Snap still laid. Around its ankle was a rolled up newspaper tied to it. Hermione paid the owl and made sure it flew out of the house before unraveling it. In big bold letters on the front page were the words, '**YOU-KNOW-WHO FINALLY FALLS!**' Underneath the title was a large moving photo of Harry, Ginny, and Ron, all looking relieved and happy. Hermione let out a breath, knowing her friends were alright.

They looked different after eight years of not seeing or hearing of them. Harry's arm was wrapped around Ginny's waist protectively. Hermione noticed the ring on Ginny's finger, meaning they had gotten married. Ron no longer looked like a teenager, he looked more of a man, as did Harry. Ginny's face still held small traces of her life before getting involved in the war, but Hermione would not noticed if she was not looking for it. Her friends had grown up without her, as did she.

She was 27-years-old, but held the knowledge of some one twice her age. Hermione was forced to grow up quickly when she was 19, under the circumstances she was. She was no longer naïve, but still held a sense of authority and could still be a know-it-all at times. She had become a woman at 19 and a mother at 23. If someone were to have seen her alone, without Caden, no one would guess she was a mother. Her figure was perfect and she still looked young. Her brown hair was more tamable and her face was no longer that of a child's. If her friends were to see her now, they probably would not believe she was the same Hermione that would join them on their ridiculous quests.

Hermione put away the newspaper and the Exploding Snap. It was getting late, and she felt her eyelids begin to get heavy. She could not help but think about what she and Caden were going to do now. They had no need to hide anymore, should she leave the cottage and move Caden near the city and civilization? Would she be able to see her friends again, and how would they react to her sudden appearance as well as Caden? Could she even take Caden away from the only home he has ever known? A million thoughts raced through her head as to what she should do in the morning. Hermione let out a sigh and went into her own room.

The bed was comfortable and she never took it for granted. Hermione relaxed a little as she felt herself sink into the mattress and pillow. She took in the sweet smells around her. She smelled Caden on the pillow next to her, as it was his whenever he had nightmares as every kid does. She could smell the shampoo she used on her own pillow. But when Hermione grabbed the dark green flannel blanket to pull it over her, she instantly stopped and put the blanket back and reached for another. Although that particular blanket was her favorite, she was not up to facing the memories that blanket held.

Hermione began to fall asleep in a matter of moments. It was a cold night, and that one blanket she had on was not enough. Unconsciously she grabbed the green blanket with the memories and subconsciously took in the smell.

"_HERMIONE! BEHIND YOU!" Ron screamed to her as he blocked a curse himself. _

_She turned around to see two death eaters coming her way. One of them raised his wand and made a move to attack her, but she was quicker. Within an instant not only was that death eater down, but him and every other one within ten feet of her. Hermione looked up at Ron, who gave her a small laugh, helped her up on her feet. But that grin on his face instantly faded as he noticed even more cloaked figures apparated to the now abandoned town. Ron and Hermione exchanged glances before preparing themselves for new wave of Death Eaters. _

"_Where's Harry?" She asked Ron, as she looked around for him. _

_As she asked him that, they both heard a loud bang from behind. Whipping around, they saw that Harry had been flung into the top of one of the buildings. A rather tall Death Eater came around the corner with his eyes still on Harry. Hermione's grip around her wand tightened as she thought of a good spell that would blow that Death Eater into a thousand pieces. _

_Ron casted a paralyzing spell at the unknown man. Hermione watched in amazement as even though he was more than hundred feet away, the Death Eater blocked the curse as though he knew what Ron was thinking. Ron cursed at the man and tried again, but the spell bounced off of him. _

_Hermione ran a little closer to the man and yelled, "Stupefy!" Once again, the spell had the same effect. The man muttered a spell and Harry was brought up from the building and slammed into another. Hermione continued to watch in horror as Ron came up next to her. _

"_What are we doing to do? Another impact like that might kill Harry!" Ron said to her. That gave Hermione an idea. _

_She looked around at the debris around her and found a grey stone that had fallen off from one of the buildings around them. It was a perfect size, not to heavy for her to lift, but it weighed enough to might do some damage. She locked on to her target, and threw the stone at the back of the man's head. _

_He dropped Harry in midair and was knocked to the ground. Ron and Hermione cheered before running over to Harry to make sure he was alright. Harry groaned in pain, but muttered a quick spell to relieve in and got up. He dusted himself off and thanked Hermione. _

_By now the rest of the Death Eaters had arrived at the scene. They were running out to meet them for the attack when Hermione noticed something odd. She quickly turned her head around as she ran to make sure her mind was not fooling her into thinking that the body of the Death Eater had disappeared. She let out a gasp when her eyes examined the rubble and found nothing but stones and no sign of him anywhere. _

_She froze when she realized he was not there. Hermione looked up at the place where Harry had struck the building. Some of the stones had been damage due to the impact. She could not have imagined the Death Eater if Harry had been effected by him. After stealing a quick glance at Harry and Ron having no problem fighting off the rest of the Death Eaters without her, she looked over at the spot where he had fallen. _

_The stone she had struck the Death Eater with had one of its sharp corners soaked in blood. But what made Hermione gasp was the fact that under the stone was the Death Eater's mask. She picked it up and examined it. The front was painted silver with black and dark gray lines tracing over the outlines and adding more detail to the face to make it look more like a skull. A blood-red line was engraved vertically down over the right eye of the mask. _

_As Hermione used her finger to trace the engraved line on the mask, she heard the stones moved over each other behind her. She turned around to see what the source of the sound was. When she did, Hermione held her breath and pressed the mask closer to her. Less the six feet away from her was the mysterious unmasked Death Eater. _

_The Death Eater was a tall man maybe four or five years older than herself, making him probably around 23 or 24. She had never seen him before at Hogwarts, for she would have remembered his handsome face. He had black hair hung over his eyes and his skin was tanned from the sun. He had a slightly stubble jaw and Hermione could tell even through his robes how muscular he was. Although as handsome as he might be, she was terrified of him._

_He was a towering figure and the murderous look he gave her sent shivers down her spine. His green eyes glared at her and were full of rage and hate. Blood was leaking down the side of his neck, probably from the rock she had thrown at him. And when Hermione looked into his eyes, she saw the purpose of the engraved red line. There was a terrible scar where the line was made by a large knife and it added even more to his horrifying appearance. His breathing was heavy and labored, but he was swift in his movement. _

_His grip around his black wand tightened and in a deep, marvelous voice, he growled, "Silencio!"_

_Hermione took a step away from him and began to shiver in fear. Harry and Ron would never be able to hear her scream for help whatever he did to her. She instantly thought the worse and waited from him to approach. He muttered a spell she did not recognize, and in an instant, she blacked out._


	2. A New Home

"Stop it, Caden," Hermione told her son as she took the plate back from him. She placed it back in the suitcase and looked away from the stubborn look on his face. Caden grabbed another plate and put it down beside him on the table. He sent her a look, telling her he would not give up.

She let out a sigh. "Caden, honey, put the plate back."

"No, Mama." He shot back. "I don't wanna move."

Caden grabbed his teddy bear, which was sitting beside him on the table, and left the kitchen. He marched to his bedroom and slammed the door closed. Hermione rubbed her temples and let out a breath. Quickly, she grabbed her wand and instantly all of their belongings that were in the main room, were packed up and ready to go.

Hermione quietly walked up to her son's bedroom door and pressed her ear against the wooden door. Inside, she could hear Caden crying. She could also hear him telling his bear that if his hero, Roland, was here, he would be able to stop his mother from making them move. Hermione knew how hard it was, forcing her son to move out of the only place he has ever known, but she must.

The war had been over for two days now, and Hermione was aching to get back into the real world. She did not want to hide in the cottage she had been staying in ever since Caden was born. It was in the middle of a large forest, which was only inhabited by animals. Hermione wanted to see another house, or building. She wanted to get back in touch with her friends, who probably thought she was dead. She wanted Caden to make friends with other children and visit other places.

Deciding that the move was still important for them, Hermione slowly opened her son's bedroom door. Caden wiped the tears out of his eyes and glared up at her. When she sat down on the bed beside him, he changed his position so his back was facing her. She sighed and noticed that his blue teddy bear was next to her. She slowly picked it up and smiled down at the bear, remembering the day she gave it to her son.

Caden glanced behind him and noticed that she was holding his bear. He quickly snatched it out of her hand and held the bear close to him. Caden returned to his position where his back was facing her and quickly glanced down to see if the bear was still intact.

Hermione was able to catch the look of concern he gave the bear. It was a pretty old teddy bear. Its left foot had a small hole in it, causing the stuffing to leak out. One of its black button eyes was long gone. His blue fur was losing its color and at times the bear would smell because of age. Hermione would have tossed the bear away if anyone else gave it to her, but the look in his eyes when he told her to keep it and give it to Caden said otherwise. She smiled slightly and began to rub Caden's back.

"Is the teddy bear OK?" She asked Caden softly.

He looked at her, startled that she had touched him and was now talking to him. But looking down at his bear, he knew that his mother was trying to make amends. "Bear's alright." He told her.

"That's good," Hermione replied with a smile.

Caden let out a sigh. "Mama, why do we have to move?" He asked once more.

"Don't you want to see the city? And meet new people?" Hermione tried.

He shook his head and replied, "I like it here, Mama. We don't need anybody else."

"But Caden, sweetheart, it's good to get out and see the world, not hide away from it." Hermione told her son. "And," she added, "I bet you Roland would not be afraid to see what else is out there."

Caden looked at her, and then down at the bear. "I'm not afraid," he said softly, but determined. "But… where will we go?"

Hermione frowned for a moment. She had been too excited to finally leave the cottage that she had almost forgotten to find another place for them. They had little money at the moment, and Hermione was not sure if she had any money in her vault. She quickly developed a list in her mind of places to stay. Her parents had died shortly after finishing school. Hermione had sold the house because the Weasleys offered Hermione a room that was just right for her.

She bit her lip as she thought about the Weasleys. Hermione wondered if they still kept the room and if they would allow her and Caden to stay until she made enough money for herself. Would they accept Caden? Although she had a feeling of what their thoughts would be about the situation, Hermione was desperate. She needed to get Caden out of the cottage and out into the world.

Caden looked up at her when she did not reply as quickly as he liked. "Mama?"

Hermione looked down at him and ran her fingers though his soft black hair. "We're going to stay with some friends of mine for a while, OK?"

He did not look pleased, but said nothing. Hermione knew he was nervous about the whole situation, but she knew it was best. "Go and pack your things, Caden." She told him as she got off the bed. Caden sat on the bed and watched her leave for a moment before jumping off and begin to gather his things.

She left her son's room for her own bedroom. Since Caden was of a young age and not allowed to use magic, it would take him a while to pack his possessions. To pass the time, Hermione began to pack her own things without magic. She was gathering up some clothes on the floor when she noticed something green lying under the bed. Picking up, Hermione instantly knew it was the green flannel blanket. She scratched her head, wondering how bad her dream must have been if her favorite blanket ended up on the floor.

Caden walked in her room with his bear in his hands shortly after and hopped up onto her bed. Hermione folded the blanket and placed it on her bed. "Are you done?" She asked him as he rested his head on the blankets. He quickly got up and nodded.

She looked at him suspiciously before taking out her wand and used it to fold the rest of the clothes on the floor. Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione noticed Caden tracing the pattern on the blanket with his finger. Suddenly, he asked, "Mama, where did you get this blanket?"

"A friend gave it to me," said Hermione, quickly. Caden looked at her for a moment, before returning to the blanket.

"Can he give me one?" He asked. Hermione let out a small laugh, before nervously asking why.

"I like this blanket, Mama. It's comfy and soft and I like the color. It smells good, too." Caden explained.

She looked down and quickly finished packing the rest of her items. Caden got off the bed when she was ready to shrink it, but he held the blanket in one hand and his bear in the other. Hermione took it from him and told him to grab one of the empty suitcases out in the main room. He returned with a suitcase in hand and Hermione placed everything she owned in that suitcase. After shrinking that, she followed Caden to his own room.

Caden left quickly to grab another suitcase for himself when Hermione entered his room. She could not help but roll her eyes and laugh when she saw that Caden had gathered everything in his room and piled it on his bed. He came back with another suitcase and watched her silently as she shrank his things, placed them in the suitcase, and then shrink that.

After a few minutes, everything that had been in the cottage was now in Hermione's pocket. Caden's teddy bear was the only thing she left its regular size. Caden clutched it tightly as he looked around their empty cottage. Hermione put a hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump and look up at her with his big brown eyes.

"Mama," he said to her. "I lied before. I really am scared."

Hermione crouched down to his level and hugged him. "Don't worry, sweetheart. You'll learn to love your new home, and who knows? You might not want to leave."

By the look on his face, Hermione knew he was going to protest, but he decided against it. Instead, he asked her, "You promise, Mama?"

"I promise, Caden."

_She had just finished counting every single stone brick in her room one by one, when the door flew open and he came into the room. Hermione sat up straight on the bed and watched as he marched into the room carrying a tray of food. He slammed it down on the wooden table a few feet away from her and pulled up a chair. He sat in it so the back of the chair pressed against his broad chest. Their eyes locked as Hermione slowly got off of the bed. _

"_What's this?" She asked him as she sat in the chair opposite of him. _

_He glared at her with his green eyes. "Food," he snarled and pushed the tray towards her._

_Hermione pushed the tray back towards him. "No thanks. I'm not hungry." _

_In truth, she was starving. She had been on a hunger strike for the past four days, ever since he brought her to this dungeon. The room had no windows, and the door appeared whenever some one entered, which was usually the house elf that brought her the food she refused to eat. There was a bed with a worn down mattress and pillow in the room. The blanket on the bed was brown and smelled of mold. The table and chairs they sat in were the only other furniture. _

_This was the first time she had seen him since the day he kidnapped her. He was wearing similar black robes to the ones he was wearing earlier. His black hair was not a mess as it had been, but instead it was slicked back, making his handsome features visible, as well as the scar on his face. His jaw was now shaved clean and it tightened as he continued to glare at her. _

_He pushed back the tray. "I'm not leaving until you eat every last bite." He said angrily to her. _

"_Then you'll be here for a while." She told him as she crossed her arms. _

_He copied her position. "That's alright." _

_Hermione frowned. "Don't you have anything else better to do than watch me?" She tried to reason. _

"_No." He replied. "I cleared everything today." _

"_You'll need more time then that." She told him._

"_You think?" He asked as her stomach grumbled. She silently cursed herself as he gave her a knowing smirk. Hermione glare at him and ignored the food. He rolled his eyes, but returned her glare. She knew he was not going to give up until she finished her meal. _

_Two hours passed without a word. He was now sitting correctly in the chair, watching her from the corner of his eye as he drummed his fingers against the wooden table. Hermione was still glaring a hole through his head and her arms were still crossed. Expect for the sound of his fingers tapping, it was completely silent in the room. So silent, Hermione wondered if this man even breathed. _

"_Would you stop that tapping?" Hermione snapped suddenly. _

_His eyes wondered over to her, but his fingers did not stop. "Eat and then I'll stop." _

"_No." She shot back. _

_Without warning, he suddenly was on his feet. The chair he had been sitting in had fallen to the floor with a loud bang, causing Hermione to jump. The look on his face was terrifying. Hermione honestly thought he would not hesitate to blow her into oblivion that very moment. _

"_You must eat. You will die if you don't." He told her. _

_Hermione shot him a look. "Then I will die."_

_The man frowned. "Why? To show Potter you would not eat good food when you were starving? Do you really think that is what he wants?" _

_She was silent for a moment. "The food is not good. It could be poisoned for all I know."_

"_How do you know it's not good? You haven't even tried it." He said to her. "And I'll prove to you it is not poisoned." _

_He conjured a fork and took a small bite out of everything. When he was done, the fork disappeared and he crossed his arms to show he was fine. "Now eat." He ordered. _

_She protested, but he insisted. In the end, Hermione picked up the fork that was on her tray. She glared at him as she took a bite out of the chicken. But she wished she had not for the man was right, it was the best chicken she had ever tasted. He smirked at her as she sent him a look before eagerly diving back into the chicken and the rest of her food. She finished in a matter of minutes. _

"_See? I told you the food was good," he pointed out. She rolled her eyes and sent him a glare. He smirked back at her. "You'll learn to trust me eventually, Hermione."_

_Although she was shocked he knew her name when she did not even know his, she did not let it display on her face. "How can I trust someone who keeps me locked up in this place?" She asked him, but mostly herself. _

"_Don't worry, sweetheart," she looked away from him when he called her that. "You'll learn to love your new home, and who knows? You might not want to leave." _

_As he turned to leave, Hermione let out a sigh and said quietly to herself, "I doubt that." But he must have heard her, as she could have sworn he chuckled as he closed the door and it disappeared_


	3. Reintroductions

Caden was asleep on her shoulder when Hermione apparated almost two miles away from the Burrow. She did not want the gunshot sound that would sound whenever someone apparated to be heard and have everyone running outside. Hermione was a nervous wreck already. She hugged Caden before she took her first steps towards the Burrow.

As she walked, Hermione devised an excuse to explain her absence. She would tell everyone that she had been held captive for those past eight years and shortly after Voldemort's downfall, she had been able to escape. Part of that story was true. She had been held captive, but not for eight years, only a little over three years. She had been able to escape a few months after finding out about Caden.

Hermione had yet to come up with a reason to explain Caden. She knew everyone would assume he was the result of a torture treatment. Hermione felt anger boil up in her body when she thought that Ron would be upset and order her to take Caden away, or worse, abandon him. She felt the tears form in her eyes. Caden was her world. He was the thing that kept her going, and was like a life-like picture of what she had lost. She could not leave her son, no matter what.

The Burrow came into view almost a half an hour later. Hermione could hear voices coming from inside. She heard Mrs. Weasley ask if anyone wanted any sweets. Fred and George were discussing Quidditch with Ron and Bill. Hermione could see Ginny and Harry cuddling on the couch through the window that viewed the main room. Mr. Weasley was reading the paper by the fireside. Everyone seemed so happy and relaxed.

She began to have second thoughts about entering the Burrow as she watched them through the window. What would everyone say? She did not feel up to a round of hugs and kisses, or any questions that they might have. Hermione felt her stomach flip. She was just about to turn back when she heard two gunshots in front of her.

Caden woke up suddenly by the sound. His bear was in his hand and he gripped it tightly as he looked at his mother, and then to the source of the sound. Hermione followed his gaze and saw three figures had appeared in front of her, a man, a woman, and a little one. Hermione's jaw dropped as their views became clearer and she realized they were Remus, Tonks, and a girl around Caden's age.

Remus and Tonks had been laughing before they saw Hermione. But when they noticed her, their faces went blank. A moment of silence passed before Remus looked at her differently and asked,

"Hermione? Is that you?"

She bit her lip and nodded as she put Caden down. He hid behind her as Remus and Tonks ran up to her to give her a hug to make sure she was really there.

"Hermione, we all thought you were dead," said Tonks. "We've really missed you."

"I missed you all, too." She said truthfully.

Remus smiled at her before looking down at Caden as Tonks went to gather their daughter. The little boy held his mother's leg tighter and glared up at him. Remus raised his eyebrows at him before turning back to Hermione. "It seems we weren't the only ones who able to be blessed with a miracle throughout that mess. Who's this?"

Hermione place a hand on Caden's back and gently pushed him out of hiding. "This is my son, Caden."

"Hello, Caden. My name is Remus Lupin. I used to be your mother's professor." He held out his hand for Caden to shake. Instead, Caden continued to glare at him and ignored his hand. Caden gripped his bear even tighter and tried to hide it out of Remus's gaze by returning to his hiding spot behind his mother.

Tonks returned holding a little girl's hand. "Hermione, this is our daughter, Laurie."

Laurie smiled at Caden. She was a bit shorter than he was, but Hermione thought that with her charms, she might be able to have Caden wrapped around her little finger. Laurie had Remus's light brown hair, but Tonks's dark eyes. Although she was a perfect mix of both of them, Hermione was able to find more of Remus's features than Tonks.

She felt Caden slowly peered out from behind her legs to take a good look at Laurie. The little girl's smile grew wider and she took a step closer to Caden. "Hello, Caden!" She said pleasantly.

Caden withdrew his head, but kept his eyes on the girl. His eyes widened when Laurie took another step closer to him. Her smile faded and she gave him a confused look. "I said hello. Aren't you going to say it back?" She asked him and Caden shook his head.

Laurie looked back at her mother and then to Hermione. "He's not very friendly, is he?"

"Laurie!" Tonks scolded, but Hermione laughed. She put her hand on Caden's back and pushed him out from behind her once more. Caden's body froze with fright and he tried to fight. Laurie grinned at him and grabbed his hand. Caden looked at her as though she slapped him in the face and got out of her grip.

The girl frowned at him. "That wasn't very nice, Caden."

He looked at his mother for help, but seeing that she was trying to hold back her laughter, he glared at her. But he did not notice Laurie glancing at his bear. "That's a dirty teddy bear. My mama can clean it for you."

Caden's head shot in her direction when he heard her mention his bear. Laurie tried to grab it out of his hands, but he held on tighter. When she pulled, he tugged it back harder. "Give me the bear, please." Laurie asked him. Caden shook his head and pulled it back towards him. Laurie's grip around the bear tightened and she yanked at it with all her might.

The blue teddy bear flew out of Caden's hands as well as Laurie's. Caden watched in horror as his most prized possession went high up in the air and landed in the mud between him and Laurie. His eyes flared with anger and his fists curled into a ball as he looked up from the bear and at Laurie.

Hermione's eyes widened when the bear went into the mud. Although she knew in the back of her mind she could easily clean it off with magic, the sight still shocked her. She knew Laurie was but four-years-old and was clueless how much the teddy bear meant to Caden and herself. But when Hermione gave Caden the teddy bear, he instinctively knew how to take care of it. Why could not Laurie?

While his mother allowed the scene process through her mind and took a deep breath, Caden looked at Laurie and began to shake with anger. That was _his_ teddy bear; how dare she ruin it! Caden gave Laurie a murderous look before shouting, "YOU!"

The girl was shocked when Caden spoke, but she was terrified when he came running after her. She screamed and ran around her parents for help, but Remus and Tonks were watching in embarrassment as Hermione picked up the teddy bear and cleaned it off with her wand. Laurie ran towards the Burrow, pleading for Caden to stop and screaming that she was sorry. But Caden continued chasing her.

The screams from the little girl that they all knew and loved dearly caused the Weasleys, along with Harry, to quickly leave the house to see what was the matter with her. They were shocked to see a mysterious boy chasing Laurie around and around the perimeter of the house. Upon instinct for his godchild, Harry took out his wand, pointed it at the boy, and yelled, "Petrificus Totalus!"

He instantly froze in his place. The large group heard running footsteps coming towards them. Everyone turned to see Remus, Tonks, and another woman holding a blue bear. Laurie was in tears as she ran up to Remus, who lifted her up.

"He was very mean to me, Daddy! I don't like Caden!" Remus rolled his eyes and sent an apologetic look to Hermione.

She ran up to her frozen son and reversed the curse. Caden was shaking and also in tears. Hermione gave him to now-clean teddy bear and lifted him up. Caden rested his head on his mother shoulder and cried, telling her he wanted to go home. Hermione patted his back and whispered a few calming words to him.

Remus handed Laurie to Tonks and approached the group. Hermione hesitantly walked up to him and knew the look in his eyes. He was going to reintroduce her to everyone. Hermione wished she had listened to Caden and was back at the cottage. It was too late to return to their home now, though.

"Everyone," Remus called to them, causing them to tear their eyes off of Hermione and her son. "I would like to reintroduce to you all, Hermione Granger."

Their jaws all dropped as though it had been rehearsed for sometime. Hermione stood holding Caden awkwardly as the group registered the fact their best friend was no longer dead as once thought. Mrs. Weasley was the first to recover from the shook.

The old woman ran up to her, with tears coming out of her eyes. She hugged Hermione as best she could and kissed her on both cheeks. "Oh Hermione," she cried happily. "We all thought you had died. It's good to see you again. You must be starving. Come have a bite to eat."

She led Hermione inside the Burrow, ignoring the others who wanted to welcome her back. They followed Mrs. Weasley and Hermione back inside and sat down at the table, still watching her in amazement. Hermione felt her cheeks go red as Mrs. Weasley continued to put more and more food in front of her until she finally admitted to her that she was not hungry. Mrs. Weasley then led her to the living room and sat her down on the large, lumpy couch.

Caden buried his face away from the curious eyes. Hermione could feel him shaking as he held his bear and tears still ran down his face. The room was silent for a moment before Mr. Weasley resumed his place by the fire and asked her one of the many questions that was on everyone's mind, "Where have you been, Hermione?"

She let out a deep breath before nervously telling them her whereabouts for the past few years. She could not lie to them as she had thought. "I was hiding in a cottage for the past four years."

"Why?" Fred asked.

She met Ron's gaze as he looked away from Caden for a moment. She replied without taking her eyes off of him. "I had been able to escape, but You-Know-Who had sent practically every Death Eater after me. I was ordered to stay in the cottage until it was safe."

Caden dared a look at the large group at was gathered around him and his mother. He did not listen to what she was telling them, but he examined their faces. One of the men with fiery red hair was looking at him in a way he did not like. Then, when the man looked at his mother in a different way, Caden felt the anger boil up in his little body and he knew he had to protect his mother from that man. He glared at the man and looked away from him.

His eyes caught the gaze of the old woman. She smiled at him and leaned forward in her chair. She then turned to his mother and asked her, pleasantly. "Who is this charming little boy?"

Hermione instinctively smiled proudly at her son. "This is my son, Caden."

Caden caught the man's eyes and saw them flare with anger. Something inside Caden made him want to stick out his tongue at him and laugh. But he did not, although Caden felt it was right.

_The sound of dripping water reminded Hermione that she was still stuck in the dreadful stone-blocked room. She let out a sigh and looked down at the words in front of her. After reading a few more sentences, Hermione closed the book. She could not concentrate, even if the book was at an exciting part. She placed the book down on the wooden table and let out a sigh. She wanted to talk to someone, anyone. _

_She had not seen him for a few weeks now. Hermione was able to keep track of the days by the meals she had been given by the house elf. She has been here for seven long weeks now. Throughout that entire time, she had only seen him twice after the fourth day of her hunger strike. Once he had came down after she reluctantly ordered the house elf to call him down in order for him to receive her list of things she needed if she was going to stay here for who knows how long. After an extremely long argument, he gave her a dresser filled with new clothes and other small items she needed._

_He came by about three weeks ago for lunch. Hermione was surprised to see him, but she allowed him to stay. They talked for a few hours about everything. She learned he was the one who actually cooked her food, unlike the house elf which she had presumed. Hermione told him about her parents and he surprised her by offering his regrets for her loss. She was shocked and did not believe him at first, but the look in his green eyes told her otherwise. _

_Hermione was surprised again when she found out his love for books. He told her he had an entire library filled with books beyond her wildest dreams. The next morning she found five books on the table with a note explaining that if she placed the books where the door normally appeared when she was done, more would appear in their place. Hermione read and read. Each time more books appeared. After the first week a note appeared telling her that if she planned to see just how many books he actually owned, she would have to wait awhile. _

_She was brought out of her thoughts when the door suddenly appeared. Hermione got to her feet, expecting it to be him. Her face fell when she realized it was just the house elf, Binky. He reminded her so much of Dobby, only Binky was a bit more down-to-Earth. He walked over to the table where she was at, happily doing his job by giving her the tray of food in his hands. Hermione looked down when she realized it was just lunch. She still had nine or hours until she usually fell asleep._

"_Is something bothering, Ms. Hermione?" Binky asked her in his squeaky voice when she did not thank him as she usually did. He also noticed the look of disappointment on her face and he was worried the meal was not right for her. _

"_Master can fix it for you, if you want. Binky will go get him." He said to her as he looked down at the food, trying to figure out what was wrong. "Binky will go get him right now." _

_Before Hermione could protest, Binky was out the door. She sat back down in her chair and rolled her eyes. She knew how pathetic she was, wishing to be in the presence of a Death Eater, particularly one who almost killed her friend. _

_Binky returned a few moments later, dragging his master into Hermione's room. Even after seven weeks, Hermione had yet to learn his name. She never dared ask for it, she did not know why. A part of her longed to know his name, the other was rather cautious and reminded her that he was a cold-blooded killer. Binky never said his name either, he was always known as 'master' to him. _

_Hermione inhaled sharply when she looked at him. He was not wearing his usual black robes she had seen him in before. He wore black pants and a black button-up shirt with the top two buttons undone, revealing his tanned, muscular chest. His sleeves were also rolled up to his elbows, also showing off his muscles. Her eyes lingered over him longer than needed and she blushed. _

"_Calm down, Binky." He ordered the house elf. Binky instantly quieted down and calmly told his master the problem. His green eyes wandered over to Hermione for a moment before telling Binky to leave them. Hermione's eyes widened and sat straight up in the chair as Binky left them alone in the room._

_He smirked at her and took the seat across from her. "Is there actually something wrong with my cooking, or am I going to have to wait another two hours again?"_

_Hermione glared at him when she noticed the amusement in his wondrous voice. "No," she told him. _

_A frown appeared on his face. "Well then, why did Binky drag me down here?"_

_She felt her cheeks go red and she looked down at the tray in front of her. "I… well, I… you haven't been here in three weeks." She told him. _

_He did not say anything for a while. Hermione wondered if he even heard what she had said. Suddenly, his eyes looked up from the table and locked with hers. She was not sure, but he seemed to hesitate when he asked her, "You missed me?" _

"_No!" She said quickly, causing him to look down. He slowly got up from the chair after a moment and looked back at her, trying to read her. _

_After a moment of sitting there awkwardly, Hermione looked away from him. But when she returned to face him, he had a small smile on his face. His eyes were gentle and kind as he looked down at her. Hermione raised her eyebrows when he let out a chuckle. _

"_What?" She asked him, slightly annoyed. _

_He smiled again. "You are very difficult to understand, Ms. Granger." He said to her, softly. "One moment you look as lost as a puppy, and then the next you're as determined as an owl, flying to its destination through harsh storms. I admire that about you."_

_With one last look, he turned to leave. Hermione stared at his spot for a moment. Suddenly she called out to him, making him stop in his tracks. He turned to look at her, and Hermione knew there was no turning back now. She let out a deep breath and looked into his eyes. _

_Nervously, she asked him, "What is your name?"_

_He looked down at the ground for a moment, as though he was deciding whether or not to tell her. He had his eyes closed when his head went back up. Slowly he opened them and met her gaze. _

"_Roland," he said, as though it pained him to say so. "My name is Roland."_


	4. The Blanket

It was still dark outside when Hermione suddenly awoke from her slumber. She could hear the frogs down by the pond and the crickets chirping, all down in Mrs. Weasley's garden. Hermione looked around the round and listened carefully. She could also hear the sounds of the others snoring and also the little sound of her son sleeping next to her.

Once Hermione felt it was safe, she turned her body so she was facing her son. As usual, Caden was clutching his bear as though his life depended on it. He made faces in his sleep, telling Hermione he was having a nightmare. She pulled his little body closer to her and ran her fingers through his hair, trying to calm him.

Caden's eyes flew open and he looked up at her, frightened. Like Hermione, he looked around the room, before snuggling closer to his mother. Hermione could feel him shaking and she held him tighter. They held that position for a moment or so before Caden's brown eyes slowly looked up at her once again.

"I had a scary dream, Mama," he told her quietly. "There was this scary bald man and he was yelling and laughing at me. He hit me, Mama, and he wanted me to do bad things for him. He was a heartless, scary man, Mama."

"Shush," Hermione quieted her sound when she had a feeling of whom he was dreaming about. "You're safe here, Caden. I'll protect you."

She looked around the room when Caden's shivering continued. Slowly, she got up and went across the room where her suitcase that were now their normal sizes. Hermione pulled out the green flannel blanket and returned to the bed to wrap Caden in it. He grinned up at her when she had finished.

"Feel better?" She asked him. Caden nodded and soon fell asleep within the blanket.

The next morning came rather quickly. The sun stuck Hermione's eyes causing her to groan and stretch as she awoke. She let out a sigh and massaged her temples as she drained the sleep out of her. Downstairs, she could hear Mrs. Weasley scurrying about in the kitchen with the pots banged and a timer when off. The smell of bacon and eggs reached Fred and George's old bedroom, where Hermione and Caden were staying. Hermione turned her head with a smile, but it faded when she realized the blanket and Caden were missing.

Quickly, Hermione shot out of bed and ran downstairs. Mrs. Weasley was putting a pile of pancakes down on the table. Harry and Ginny were laughing in the other room and Mr. Weasley was reading the paper on the kitchen table as he drank his coffee. Hermione scanned the kitchen until she was positive there was no sign of Caden.

She ran into the other room, where Harry and Ginny were, and let out a sigh of relief. Caden was wearing the blanket like a cape and was sitting on the couch upside down. He wore a huge grin on his face, while Ginny laughed as she went to tickle him. Harry was watching them from the other side of the room, rolling his eyes and laughing also. Caden was the first to notice his mother's presence.

"Mama, check out what Ginny did." He motioned to the blanket tied around his neck. "I'm the evil Lord Harold," he told her as used his right arm to bring the cape in front of his face.

Hermione sat down on the couch next to him. "I thought you like Roland the best."

"I do, but bad guys have capes," Caden explained. "Roland doesn't have a cape."

She raised her eyebrows. "You want to be a bad guy?"

"No, I'm a good boy. I'm just pretending, Mama." He defended. He untied the blanket, and looked at her concerned. "See? I'm a good guy now. No need to pretend that."

Hermione laughed as Mrs. Weasley called everyone for breakfast. Caden, who must have been up for a few hours as he was now comfortable around everyone, was the first to react to the calling. He ran into the kitchen and took a seat, and then waited to be served. Harry followed the boy, leaving only Ginny and Hermione.

Ginny watched Harry go before motioning for Hermione to stay. She sat back down on the couch and looked at her old friend. "Who are Harold and Roland?" She asked her.

"They're just characters of a bedtime story I made up for Caden. He likes to use them to make up his own stories." Hermione told her.

Her friend gave her a look, as though she doubted it for a moment. But she looked back at the place were Caden had left for the kitchen and smiled. "He's a good kid, Hermione."

"Thanks." She replied.

"I'm not going to ask, Hermione, about… you know. But," she added. "Do you regret it?"

Hermione grabbed their green blanket and began to fold it in her lap as she thought about it. Finally she turned to Ginny and said, with a straight face, "I do not regret having Caden. But if you want to know if I regret how I came to have a son, I would do it all again if I could." _Just to spend a few more moments with him,_ Hermione added silently to herself.

She could tell Ginny was shock and was going to point out what she thought about the situation, but Mrs. Weasley called again for them impatiently. Ginny joined Harry at the table and Hermione found that Caden saved her a seat. Ron soon came downstairs, fully dressed. He took the seat across from Hermione, and glared at Caden, who was returned it.

Breakfast went by silently, although it did not go unknown to Hermione that her old best friend and son were having a glaring showdown right in front of her. Occasionally, one would break it off. Caden would grin up at her, or Ron would add more to his plate. But they would continue soon afterwards. Mrs. Weasley also noticed the glares her son sent the young boy, and she knew the reason.

Even if one was blind, they could figure out Ron had a thing for Hermione, everyone knew. Mrs. Weasley had watched her son through the years get more attached to the girl, and could not help but smile at her son's crush. When Hermione disappeared that day, Ron hardly slept. He focused all his energy into finding her, but ended with no luck. He was an absolute wreck the day of Hermione's funeral.

But now, after eight years, Ron was still in love with her. Mrs. Weasley, like the others, was also shocked to see the little, black-haired boy with Hermione's eyes. There was also something different about Hermione the others had yet to notice. She looked at Ron differently now. There was still love in her eyes, but more of a sibling love. Something had happened to Hermione during her years while held captive. Something happened that made her fall out of love with Ron.

Mrs. Weasley examined the little boy's face. She could see traces of Hermione in the boy, like his eyes and maybe even her ears. Once he was comfortable around everyone, mostly everyone, he smiled a lot. His smile was somewhat like Hermione's, but she could see bits of another.

Hermione gave her son the look she used to give Ron, but with a motherly touch. After studying the boy's face, Mrs. Weasley knew that he held a lot of his father, whoever that was. His hair was like no one's she had met before. His jaw and most of his face made the face of the unknown man. Mrs. Weasley had a feeling she looked at her son that way, sad but happy, as a way of remembering the man. But why?

When breakfast was over, Caden leaped down from his chair and impatiently asked his mother if he could go outside and play. At the cottage, Hermione rarely let him out, fearing they would be captured. Caden loved the outdoors and the sun on his face. He began to shake with excitement as he waited for her answer.

"Alright, you may go out," she said to him. He cheered and ran outside with his bear in his hands. After changing into everyday clothes, Hermione followed him outside, as did Ron.

"Where are Remus and Tonks?" Hermione asked Ron suddenly, when Caden found interest in chasing a gnome.

He watched coldly Caden for a minute before answering, "They left shortly after you two went upstairs last night."

The two were in an awkward silence as they watched the boy run after the gnome and chase him into a hole. Caden tried digging him out, but gave up after seeing another. He bolted after the gnome and gave in no chance to escape underground. He caught the gnome by his feet, but quickly let go after feeling it lumpy skin. The texture surprised him, but he recovered and went after it again. He tackled the gnome to the ground, almost killing it.

"Hermione," Ron said to her suddenly, "is there a reason you decided to keep Caden? After all, he's the son of a Death Eater, isn't he? It's in his blood to… well, you know."

She gave him a dark look. "Ron, he may be a Death Eater's son, but he's also mine. He's half of me and my blood. And you don't even know what happened to me during those few years, so don't go jumping to conclusions on my son and his father." She defended angrily.

"I'm sorry, but you were gone for eight years, Hermione." He told her as he looked into her eyes. "I didn't know what happened to you and I thought you had died. But instead you show up, _alone_, with a son. You can't blame me for jumping to conclusions."

"You're right. I'm sorry." Hermione apologized after a while.

Ron let out a sigh. "Just answer me one question: Did he take good care of you?"

Hermione smiled sadly, "Yes, he took very good care of me."

"_Oh come on," he laughed. "It can't be that bad." _

_She glanced up at him as he wiped the rest of the chocolate of his face with the napkins he had brought. He took his spoon and tried the ice cream. Hermione giggled as his face twisted and he, too spat out the ice cream, only off to the side and not on her face like she had done to him. _

"_OK, I lied. That is the worse chocolate ice cream I ever tasted." He admitted. _

"_Your bag must've sprung a leak," she told him, "or maybe your skills do not work so well with muggle ways of making things." _

_After discovering that Hermione asked Binky to bring her certain muggle zip-lock bags, milk, ice, salt, and chocolate extract, Roland made it his mission to figure out what on Earth she could be doing with those certain items. He came down to her room an hour or so ago and found her making homemade ice cream. Hermione showed him how it was done and they were now testing his first bag, which would probably be his last as it was too salty to be called ice cream. _

"_I don't even know why you're making ice cream," Roland said as he stood up from his chair and continued trying to get the ice cream out of his black hair. "It's December." _

"_December?" Hermione repeated as her face fell. "December what?"_

_She had been his captive for the past eight months, she thought with a frown. It did not feel like she had been here for that long. Roland came down at least three or four times a week. Hermione had been requesting more books, sketch pads, and crossword puzzles to occupy her time on the days he did not come. _

_Roland thought about the date for a moment. "It's the twenty-fifth." He answered. _

"_It's Christmas?!" She shrieked causing him to jump in surprise. _

_He nodded quickly. "Yeah, why, do you celebrate that holiday?" _

"_Of course!" She told him. Her expression fell as she realized that she was stuck her, and not celebrating the day with her family and friends. She placed down her ice cream and wrapped her arms around herself. How could she miss that today was Christmas? _

_At the moment, it really did hit her. She was trapped, alone, until who knows how long? Hermione felt the tears being to form in her eyes as she thought about Harry, Ginny, and Ron. She might not be able to see them again. She would never be able to see Harry conquered Lord Voldemort, if he conquered Voldemort. She would never see Ginny and Harry be able to regain their happiness and might even marry. She would never be able to see Ron again and tell him how much she meant to her. _

_Roland stood in her presence, with a look of concern on his face. He approached her cautiously, coming around the table and towards her chair. "Hermione?" He questioned. "Is everything alright?" _

_She wiped the tears from her eyes, "Just go, Roland. I want to be alone right now."_

_He took a step back and searched her face to see if she really meant that. With a sad look on his face, he quietly left her room and the door disappeared. Hermione watched the place where he left for a moment, before getting up from the table and lied down on her bed. She felt the tears fall freely as she realized she would be spending Christmas alone, without family, friends, or even Roland. She cried herself to sleep. _

_When she awoke, Hermione noticed Binky had already left her dinner. She did not really feel up to eating, but she got out of bed anyways. She smiled faintly when she saw Roland had gone through the trouble to make her Christmas sugar cookies with red and green stars on them. She began to eat one and noticed the note placed under the tray written in his handwriting. _

"_Dear Hermione,_

_I'm sorry that you have to spend Christmas here in the stone-cold room. If I could have it any other way, I would allow you to be upstairs by the fire, or even allow you to leave and return to your family. But you know that is not possible. _

_I haven't really celebrated Christmas since I was five, but I do remember the sugar cookies my mother would make just for me. So just for you, I made a dozen cookies. I hope you like them better than my ice cream and I hope the blanket will keep you warm this winter. Merry Christmas!_

_Yours truly,_

_Roland"_

_Hermione looked up from the note and around the room. He mentioned a blanket, but she did not see it. Looking back at her bed, she noticed a dark green, flannel blanket. She touched it blanket and rubbed it between her fingers._

_She had never before felt anything so soft in her life. Slowly and carefully, Hermione picked up the blanket and wrapped it around herself. It was bigger than her and it fell onto the floor beneath her feet. It felt a bit heavy, but not too much. It was almost like big strong arms were wrapped around her protectively. Hermione smiled as she felt how warm it kept her within the dungeon. She took in the smell of the blanket as she examined it further. It smelled vaguely familiar, almost like Roland, who had that masculine smell to him. _

_Taking another cookie and grabbing one of the books on the table, Hermione went back to the bed and carefully place the blanket over her. As she searched for her bookmark within the pages of the book, out of the corner of her eye she noticed that the door had reappeared. She raised her eyebrows and put the book down as Roland came into the room. _

_He was a bit surprised to see her wide awake, but he smiled anyways. He came over to the bed, but not before taking a sugar cookie off the plate. Hermione's jaw dropped a bit as he took a bit. "I thought you said those cookies were for me." _

_Roland glanced at her casually. "It's just one out of twelve. You can handle it." _

_Hermione pouted and she got off the bed and grabbed another cookie. Roland took note that the blanket was still wrapped around her. He smirked as he finished the rest of his cookie and watched her. _


	5. An Invitation

"Not that I want to pressure you or anything, Hermione," Harry told her as she glanced down at the letter in her hands. "But I really think you should go. People will want to know that you're alive. You don't know how much your loss affected us."

Hermione let out a sigh as she skimmed through the letter once more. The Ministry was hosting a ball in honor of the triumph over Lord Voldemort. Harry was also going to be announced as the new Minister of Magic after Rufus Scrimgeour had died during an attack at the Ministry. He was not so thrilled about the job at first, but he did realize that he would be able to finally do something to the government to make it fairer.

It was Harry's idea to have Hermione speak during the ball. He told her that everyone would want to know about her days while being held captive and managing to survive the whole ordeal. It was best to tell everyone at once, it made it easier, which she had to admit, was probably a good idea.

Now Hermione was not as thrilled about the speech like Harry was when he took the Minister's job. She had yet to tell anyone the entire story of those years while she was kept locked away in a cold stone room; even Caden did not know the whole story. He knew he had a father and he had a description of what he looked like, but that was it. Her story was too horrible to tell, even to herself. She still had nightmares about it. She could still hear the sound of the door banging against the stone wall and she could still see the violent images that had been placed before her.

"Harry, I don't know if I can," she told him, truthfully. "What happened was too horrible to explain."

Harry nodded. "Well… you don't have to tell us the whole thing. Why not your escape?"

She glanced over at him and laughed. "Harry, there was a reason I had to escape."

"Well, yeah. He kept you against your will. Probably gave you moldy food, too."

"Actually, the food was quite good, but that's not the point." She told him. She looked around the room for a moment. "Do you know that by keeping me against my will, he actually protected me? You-Know-Who sent him to find and kill me, but instead he hid me away to keep You-Know-Who from finding me."

"Did he tell you that?" Harry asked with his eyebrows raised, as though he doubted it.

Hermione, to his surprise, shook her head. "No, You-Know-Who did."

Caden came running into the room they were sitting in before Harry had a chance to say anything else. He looked back at the doorway with fright after he dove behind the couch they were sitting on. Laurie came in a few seconds later, her dark eyes scanning the room for him. She spotted Caden and smiled excitedly.

"There you are, Caden. Wanna play princesses?" She asked him. Caden almost jumped a mile high when she came running towards him. Unfortunately for Caden, even after chasing Laurie in the dark, threatening to hurt her was not enough to keep her away from him.

The boy scrambled to get up off the floor and his bear was kept as far away from Laurie as possible. He looked for an escape route as she continued to walk up to him, even to the point where his back pressed against the wooden walls of the house. He looked around frantically as Laurie went on about the game she wanted to play.

"…and you can even wearing my pink dress!" Laurie exclaimed excitedly.

"NO!" Caden yelled quickly and pushed passed her and ran out the doorway. The boy bumped into Remus, who was carrying a cup of hot coffee. It poured down Caden's back, causing him to scream in pain. Hermione rushed over to her son. She picked him up and took him back over to the couch. She took out her wand and used it to heal his back.

Once she saw that Caden was alright, Laurie ran up to him. "So Caden, do you wanna play?"

Caden rolled his eyes, groaned, and buried his head in his mother's neck. Remus, after fixing his pants, gently took his daughter away from the boy. "Laurie, we've only been her for five minutes and already Caden's gotten hurt."

"But it wasn't my fault. He should have watched where he was going." Laurie said quickly.

Remus gave her a look. "You were making Caden uncomfortable. Try playing something else. He is a boy after all. I don't think he's interested in princesses."

Laurie pouted. "But boys' games are dumb. They're all about fighting people."

He thought about it for a moment. "Why not do a mix of the two? Caden can be a fearless warrior who comes to rescue you from an evil dragon."

But Laurie shook her head. "No, I don't wanna play with him anymore. He's boring. Where's Aunt Ginny?"

Remus rolled his eyes, but told the girl where she could find Ginny. After Laurie had left, he took a seat in the armchair by the fireplace and gave Hermione and Caden an apologetic look. He then took out his wand and refilled his coffee mug that was still in his hands.

Caden soon fell asleep in Hermione's arms. She could not blame him, for he had been up all night screaming in pain after a gnome bit his side, fracturing his ribs. Unfortunately, Mrs. Weasley did not have some of the ingredients to make a potion that could ease his pain. She left for Diagon Alley early in the morning and gave him the potion shortly before Laurie and Remus arrived.

Hermione gently rocked her sleeping son as Remus and Harry began to discuss Quidditch and whether or not the World Cup will take place this year, as it had not for the past several years. Ginny came in with Laurie almost twenty minutes later. Laurie hopped up onto her father's lap and Ginny took the seat in between Harry and Hermione on the couch. Ginny looked over at Caden.

"Oh, look at him. Don't you want one?" She asked Harry, who turned bright-red.

"Ginny, we haven't even been married for a year yet. And people are still recovering from the war." He tried to reason. Ginny rolled her eyes and snuggled closer to him.

"It's just a thought, Harry. If you don't want a child, you could've just said so." Ginny told him.

Harry began to panic. "It's not that I don't want one. I do, just… give me a few months."

"Aren't you going to wake him up?" Laurie asked Hermione after the couple had quieted down.

She shook her head. "No, it's best to let him sleep. He gets angry when he is forced to wake up."

But it did not matter anyways. As soon as Hermione finished telling Laurie this, Ron entered the house and slammed the door shut behind him. Caden's brown eyes opened suddenly and he glared angrily as Ron entered the living room. But Laurie interrupted him by grabbing a hold of his hand and pulled him off of Hermione's lap.

"Come on, Caden. Let's go and play tag!" She said happily to him.

"Tag?" Caden questioned and for the first time in his life, he left the teddy bear behind. Hermione slowly picked it up from off the wooden floor and wiped the tears that were forming out of her eyes. She smiled as she never thought Caden would leave his beloved bear for a girl at this age. Her little boy was beginning to grow up, and he was missing it.

Ron glanced over at the old teddy bear as he took a seat on the arm chair closest to Hermione. "Fred and George used to have teddy bears like that. Mom gave one to me after they got tired of it. Aren't they supposed to stop breaking at a certain point?"

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't buy it. It was given to Caden as a gift."

Ron nodded and was silent for a few moments. "So, are you going to the ball?" He asked quietly. "It's supposed to be fun. There will be dancing, Fred and George are putting on a fireworks display, and some awards are going to be given out. Caden might like it, kids are invited."

She smiled at him for no more than a second, remembering the speech Harry wanted her to give. "I might go."

_Hermione had not seen him for four months and she was beginning to get worried. She knew he was not even in the house, or manor, whatever was above her head. The food was not as nicely prepared as it had been. Binky was the one making her food, he told her so himself. But Hermione did not have the heart to admit his cooking was even worse than hers. The books that appeared at her doorstep were no longer interesting as they had been. Something was wrong with him. Even Binky became more nervous with each passing day. _

_She reminded the house elf to bring Roland down as soon as he came home every meal. Binky would nod to show he would remember, but still there was no Roland. She asked Binky where he could be, but he did not know. He told her Roland said he left on business, but he also told her he had never been gone this long before. Hermione began to waste her days, waiting for the door to appear and Roland step in with that ridiculous smirk she longed to see. _

_It was absurd, she knew, waiting day after day for a Death Eater to come into her room. Hermione told herself at the beginning she was bored and she wanted someone else to talk to other than Binky. But soon she began to miss his food, his voice, the way he made her laugh. She found herself drawing sketches of him in her drawing pads, and holding the blanket from time to time, inhaling his scent that still lingered on it. Hermione quickly placed the blanket down on her bed when she noticed the door appear. She did not want Binky seeing her like that. _

_But it was not Binky that staggered into her room. Hermione's jaw dropped and her eyes widened in shock as Roland limped into the room. His black robes were soaked with blood, and the scar on his face had been reopened. His face was stained with red and looked as though someone smashed it with a large rock. Even his hands were bloody. He looked not only pained, but tired and slightly confused._

_They stood in silence for a moment before Roland said, in a hoarse voice, "You wanted to see me?" _

"_Yes, but not like this." Hermione said as she got up from her bed and walked over to him. She placed her hand on his shoulder and felt him wince in pain. Hermione bit her lip and helped Roland over to her bed. _

"_Call Binky," she ordered him as she began to take off his robes and shirt. Hermione gasped as she noticed the many scars that traced his chest. Her eyes began to water as she thought of what kind of cruel, sickles person would torture him in such a way. _

_Roland was either embarrassed that she saw him like this or too tired to care. He did not react to her gasp and simply snapped his fingers together making Binky appeared at his side in a moment. Hermione ordered the house elf to gather hot water, towels, or any other magical item, that might be used to help heal Roland's wounds. He returned in a matter of minutes, but told her nervously that he still had to find some of the potion used to heal wounds somewhere in the house and disappeared. _

_Hermione worked quickly to clean off the blood on his face. Roland watched her as his eyelids began to drop slowly. She was afraid to let him fall asleep, for she wanted to know he was alive as she worked. She began to talk to him in order to help him. _

"_Why would someone do this to you?" Hermione asked him quietly as she wiped the blood off his cheek. _

_Roland let out a painful laugh. "Do you remember when we first met? You chucked a rock at my head. I'll be fine, Hermione, I'm used to this."_

"_But I'm not," Hermione retorted. "You could've died if you stayed out there any longer." _

"_Says the woman who threw a chair at me during Meeting Three," Roland replied with a smirk. "You nearly broke my leg, not to mention the chair's." _

"_Well you deserved it," said Hermione, smirking back and moved from his face to his chest. "You told me there was nothing wrong about wearing your clothes." _

_He rolled his eyes. "Do you know how much money I spent buying all your clothes? I would've gladly loaned you my shirt than be caught buying woman's clothing. The saleswoman was trying to hold back her laughter the entire time!"_

"_I never did thank you for that." _

"_No, you didn't." Roland replied and shuddered as though he was remembering the horrors. _

_Her smile faded and her face became more serious. Hermione replaced the blood-red towel with another white one as she moved further down his chest. She noticed Roland's breathing suddenly becoming heavy and she quickly withdrew the towel. _

"_I'm sorry," She said to him. "Did I hurt you?" _

_Roland let out a breath. "No, I'm fine." To her surprise, Roland hoisted himself so he was sitting up right on the bed. He gave her a look of concern and he brought his hand up against her cheek. With his thumb he wiped away the tears Hermione had not realized had been running down her face. She blushed, causing him to chuckle. _

"_You had been crying throughout that whole thing," He informed her. "Perhaps it's you we need to worry about." _

_Hermione looked away from him. "It's just that… I hate to see you hurt." _

_Roland frowned and his fingers moved down to her neck. He brought her back so she was facing him. He gave her a reassuring smile and told her, "I'm fine, Hermione. Don't worry about me." _

"_But I do," She admitted. "When you don't come to see me, I just–"_

_But whatever Hermione was going to say, she was lost for words as Roland captured her lips with his._


	6. Surprises

Hermione knew, as she looked at Caden out of the corner of her eye, that he was absolutely bored. She was grateful for the fact he did not complain, although he would give her a look whenever Ginny would pull them into another store. Hermione had to admit that she herself was starting to get tired after trying on more than fifty dresses in all sorts of styles and colors.

Caden had barely spoken to her all day and she was not sure why. It might have been the fact that he had to go clothes shopping while Harry and Ron would be playing Quidditch without him. Caden might have been upset about the fact that Ginny had taken them out early, meaning he had no breakfast. But whatever was going on in the little boy's head, he showed no signs of it on his face. Hermione could only read the bored expression he wore.

"Ginny," Hermione said to her suddenly. "We still have to buy Caden's dress robes as well. I'm not going to be able to afford these kinds of dresses and still be able to get Caden something."

The redhead rolled her eyes and began to mutter something to herself as she took away all of the expensive clothing out of Hermione's hands, leaving only a scarlet, strapless dress. Ginny ordered Hermione to try it on, and she waited outside with Caden. Hermione did, and she rolled her eyes when she realized it was way too small. Ginny groaned in frustration while Caden slammed his bear into his forehead. They left the shop without speaking to one another.

Hermione was able to convince Ginny to take a break from shopping, seeing as they still had three days to buy a dress. Ginny reluctantly agreed on one condition, Hermione would buy the ice cream cones. Caden's ears seemed to perk up at the mention of ice cream. He began to tug his mother's pant leg, asking for a chocolate ice cream cone. Hermione bought their treats at the next stand and found a table to sit at.

Caden, restless from sitting in all of those stores for hours on end, began to walk around the area on his own. He walked around, examining the shop windows and looking at the pet owls hanging around on a shop's sign. Hermione watched him out of the corner of her eye as Ginny began to tell her a list of places they should try next.

"So, Luna told me about this new shop that opened up down the street from here. She showed me her new dress a day or so ago, and you wouldn't believe how gorgeous it looked on her. I haven't been there myself, but it's worth a shot."

"Uh huh." Hermione replied.

Ginny frowned. "Are you even listening?"

"Luna, new shop, gorgeous dress," she answered dully to show that she was.

"Hermione, do you even care about this ball? If Harry or Ron hadn't asked you about it, would you still go?"

She shrugged and Ginny shook her head. "Hermione, I know it's been eight years, and it's great to see you and everything, but it's like your mind is elsewhere, all the time. How bad was it? Because if he did something to you that would make Ron's head explode; well, we can find him and give him what he deserves."

"Ginny," Hermione said as she turned her so she was completely facing her. "There is nothing you can do that will make him pay for what he did. You see, he didn't do anything to me."

"How can you say that with a straight face? I mean, I like the boy and everything, but he did that to you, and he kidnapped you!" Ginny exclaimed.

She looked down from her and examined the remained of her cone. "He kidnapped me for my own good. I would've died if he didn't. And I gave myself to him by my own free will. He did not touch me until I allowed him to. You can't do any thing to him, Ginny."

"But he–"

"He's dead, Ginny!" Hermione blurted, causing Ginny to freeze. "He's dead. He died trying to protect me from You-Know-Who."

Ginny was silent as Hermione put her head in her hands and allowed the tears to fall freely. She remembered that day so clearly in her mind, that awful day. She remembered seeing all the blood on the stones and hearing Voldemort's cruel laugh when he did not get up from the floor. She had never been so terrified in her life when she watched them drag his lifeless body out of the room and Voldemort kicked it as it left.

As she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes, Ginny looked at her sadly and ashamed of herself. "I'm so sorry, Hermione. I didn't know."

She did not reply. Instead she looked around at the people around her. "Where's Caden? Caden!" She yelled. The boy heard his mother and quickly ran out of the nearby alley. Caden turned to give it one last look before proceeding to return to his mother. He felt his heart stop as he noticed her tearstained face.

"Mama?" He asked with concern. Hermione waved her hand, dismissing it as she turned to Ginny and asked if she was ready to go. They did not mention their discussion as they left the picnic table.

The shop Luna had spoken to Ginny about was where they had their success. It was a small shop in a little bricked building at the corner of the street. The dresses were absolutely wonderful and their prices were not as high as Hermione had expected. She found another red dress, but her eyes caught an emerald green one that had been practically tucked away out of sight. She presented the two dresses to Ginny and Caden.

"Oh, pick the red one, Hermione," Ginny said to her excitedly. "It's our house color."

As Hermione nodded and turned to leave, she heard Caden's little voice behind her. "Pick the green one, Mama. He wants you to wear the green one." He whispered.

Hermione whipped around and stared back into her son's innocent brown eyes. He gave her a small smile as her jaw dropped. "What did you say?" She asked him, in shock.

"He wants you to wear the green one." Caden repeated.

"Who?" Ginny asked him.

Caden's eyes lingered over from the dress to her. His smile widened as he looked back at his mother, and said to her, as though it were obvious, "Daddy, of course."

_Hermione's eyes widened in horror as she glanced down at the stick in her hands. How could this have happened? For a moment, she wanted to slap her forehead as she knew how, but still. Roland was barely home and they had only done it once. But she knew once was enough, and now she was pregnant with Roland's child. _

_After their first kiss, Roland told her with a heavy heart that the Death Eaters were beginning to get suspicious about his long absences, that was part of the reason he had been beaten. She knew by the look in his eyes that meant he would have to be away more often. It had been more than a year since that day, almost three years since her capture, and throughout that time Hermione had only seen Roland five times. During his last visit, almost two months ago, they decided to take their relationship to the next level and that was why Hermione was staring in shock at the test in her hands. _

_Part of Hermione was thrilled. She always wanted children, every since she was a little girl. Her goals in life had been like most people: get a good job, a loving and caring husband, and adorable little children. But ever since her capture, Hermione had said good-bye to those types of dreams. She would have never thought she would be sitting on the bed with a positive test in her hands three years ago, let alone be carrying the child of the Death Eater who kidnapped her. _

_The other part of Hermione was frightened. She was having a child, a Death Eater's, the kind of people Harry and Ron were off destroying. She was terrified at the thought that her child would grow up to be one, the people whom she had vowed to hate, but she learned she could not, not after Roland. _

_Then she thought of Roland. What would he say when he found out? She never took him as the fatherly type before. Would he order her to get rid of the baby? Hermione shuddered at the thought, knowing she could not. After all, it was her baby, too. Or what would happen if Roland's next visit would be a year from now? What would he say when he walked into the room, seeing her holding a baby? Hermione knew she would have to tell him soon enough. _

_She was too wrapped up in her thoughts to notice that the door had appeared and Roland had slipped into the room. He quietly came up behind her and placed his hands over her eyes. But what he did not expect, as he went to whisper into her ear, was Hermione screaming and her head to come in contact with his jaw. _

_Roland massaged his jaw with his hand as Hermione twisted around in the chair she was sitting in to see who it was. Her mouth fell opened as she looked around frantically. It was then that he noticed the stick in her hand. _

"_What's that?" He asked and pointed to it. Hermione instantly got up from the chair and hid it behind her back. _

"_What's what?" She asked him. Roland smirked at her as he moved swiftly to grab the test out of her hand. _

_Hermione bit her lip and closed her eyes as she waited for Roland to finish examining the test. He scratched his head and handed it back to her, asking her what exactly it was. She did not believe he did not know what it was, but then again he probably grew up in the magical world and had never seen a muggle pregnancy test before. Hermione was surprised when Binky knew what she was talking about and quickly left to fetch it._

_Weakly, she avoided his gaze before replying, "It's a test."_

_He let out a laugh. "What kind of a test?"_

_Hermione met his eyes for a moment. "I'm pregnant." She told him straightly. _

_Roland's eyes widened as though he could not believe that some stupid stick could tell her that, which she probably thought was going through his mind. But he looked into her eyes, searching to see if she was joking with him. Then, after seeing none, he blurted out, "You mean with a baby?" _

_If Hermione had read that out of a book, she might have laughed. "No," She answered, slightly annoyed. "I'm having a dragon. Yes, I'm having a baby!"_

_She sat back down on the chair and rubbed her temples. Roland hesitantly sat down in the chair next to her. They did not speak to one another. They sat silently as they allowed the news to sink in. After a while, Hermione finally let out a sigh. _

"_What are we going to do, Roland?" She asked him. _

_He looked up from the table. "What do you me 'what are we going to do'?" He asked her with a tone she did not like. _

_Her jaw dropped in shock. He was not leaving her, was he? This was his fault as much as it was hers. But before she could protest, Roland went on. "We're keeping the baby, aren't we?" _

_She let out a sigh of relief when she heard 'we' and nodded. Roland gently got a hold of one of her hands and pulled her towards him. She sat on his lap and buried her face in his chest as she let the tears fall. Hermione felt his hand under her chin and allowed him to bring her face up so she was facing him directly. _

"_I don't want you to worry about a thing, Hermione." Roland told her gently. "I'll be there for you, for both of you. Not even the Dark Lord can bring us apart." _

_She smiled at him and wiped the tear out of her eyes. They sat in silence for a moment, before Hermione took Roland's hand and placed in over her stomach. _

"_Roland," She said softly as she used her other hand to run her fingers through his dark hair. "We're going to be parents. You're going to be a daddy!"_

_He looked down for a second at where his hand laid, and then looked back up at her with a wild grin on his face. "I know." _


	7. The Speech

"You know that you don't have to do this," Ginny reminded her as they waited for Harry, who was on stage, to reintroduce her to the public. But Hermione shook her head, telling her she had to get it over with now. They were at the Ministry's ball, three days after she revealed to Ginny her little secret about Caden's father, and three days after Caden caused her to faint in the store because of his father.

Hermione never did find out what made Caden say that to her face. She had given him a good description of his father, well enough for him not to point out every man with black hair that passed them. But Caden had never mentioned anything about his thoughts on the subject of his father. Hermione originally presumed he might have had a dream about him, but Caden had given her this look that told her otherwise. In the end, Hermione decided that she must have told him how much his father loved the color green, and Caden must have said that in order for the shopping to be done sooner. A part of Hermione secretly doubted that idea.

Caden, who never spoke about the incident and pretended it never happened, was peering out through the curtains. Hermione could tell he was anxious about getting out from behind the stage and head over to the buffet table. It smelled so wonderful behind the curtains. Hermione felt her stomach groan in longing as well.

The Ministry's ball was hosted in a large ballroom within the Ministry's walls. It was decorated with floating candles and dozens of balloons that would burst into purple fireworks once they reached the ceiling. Streamers danced around in the air, and the music that had been playing sounded absolutely wonderful.

Everyone was dressed formally, even Hagrid, who Hermione saw through the curtain moments ago, was wearing a new, better looking, tie. Caden was wearing his new green dress robes that fitted him comfortably. Hermione was wearing that green dress Caden told her to buy. At first she thought it made her look a bit too showy. But after coming down the stairs and causing everyone in the Burrow to gasp, she knew it was just right. So even though her son manipulated her, Hermione had to admit his taste was excellent.

As Harry's speech began to come to a close, Hermione felt the butterflies return to her stomach. Caden seemed to sense his mother discomfort and went over to her. He held her hand and smiled up at her.

"Don't worry, Mama, everything will be alright. Just tell them the truth about Daddy and they'll understand." He made everything seem so simple. Hermione gave him a weak smile and ruffled his hair.

Harry's speech was no finished and she was more nervous than ever. "Although many of you would consider this honor to be the highlight of my week, I am here with news to prove to you that that is not true. Shortly after receiving news of this opportunity, I had received even greater news. Ladies and gentleman, I am here to tell you that during the course of this week, I was reacquainted with one of my long-lost friends. After convincing her to tell us her story, I give you Hermione Granger, back from the dead." Harry emphasized the last few words in that sentence.

There was a sudden gasp as Hermione slowly came out from behind the curtain. She came up to the podium where Harry was giving his speech. He gave her a hug and whispered into her ear that it will be alright. She nodded to him as he left the stage.

Hermione turned to the audience, and gave them a small smile. No one responded. It was almost as though she could hear crickets in the background. She felt her face go red and looked down at the piece of parchment that contained her speech Harry had left on the stand.

"Umm, first things first," She told the crowd nervously. "I would like everyone to know that before I begin my tale, I was not harmed in any way by my captor. Although, afterwards, I'm having trouble to say that is true."

She took a deep breath and began her tale. She told everyone of the day Harry, Ron, and herself been assigned to take on a rather large group of Death Eaters. She told them about Harry being flung into several buildings before she threw a rock at the back of the Death Eater's head, and then afterwards how she thought the body had disappeared. She described Roland to them and how he took her away.

Hermione told them of the room he kept her in, Binky, and her hunger strike. She stole a glance at Harry who looked, almost disappointed. Roland had been right about him. She told them how Roland would not leave until she had clean her plate, and of the several heat arguments they had, until he decided to have lunch with her and gave her some of his books to read, and then finally telling her his name.

She carefully explained how they became friends. Hermione told her of her first Christmas there, and how Roland had been kind even to make her cookies and give her a blanket. She told the crowd how much she began to look forward to be able to see him every few days. Then, Hermione explained the day when he arrived to her room tired and wounded, apparently beaten because he began to ignore his duties. She told them of their first kiss and how Roland was forced to make their time together limited the following year. Ron, Hermione noticed out of the corner of her eye, began to tense up.

But she continued anyways. Hermione told them when she had to explain to Roland she was pregnant. She told them how happy he became and tried to spend most of his free time, which began to annoy her, trying to make her comfortable, some how forgetting the fact that the others were beginning to act towards his strange behavior.

"Roland and I were going to try to get together that afternoon to try and decided on baby names," She said to the crowd sadly. "He suddenly showed up, bursting in without warning, and handed me my wand back. He told me that I had to leave, and that it was no longer safe here. He explained to me that the Dark Lord had finally figured out where I had been and he was coming. I was confused and speechless as Roland quickly told me how to use my wand to make the bricks move. It was then I realized that he wasn't coming with me, and I wanted to stay."

Hermione paused for a moment and looked down at what she had written, although she had not even used the parchment throughout the entire speech. She took another deep breath and continued, "Roland gave me this sharp look and told me straightly that I was to leave and he was to stay. He pulled out from his cloak a blue teddy bear and asked if I would give it to the baby once it was born. I was about to protest, telling him that he could give it to the baby himself, when the door suddenly appeared and You-Know-Who came in with his followers."

"He hissed at Roland and looked at me disgusted as he pushed me down to the ground. Roland went to catch me, but You-Know-Who kicked him down to the ground. He told Roland that he was a disgraced to the Death Eaters, first the fact that he went against his orders and didn't kill, and then he fell for me. He told Roland that he wanted our baby to serve under him, and in return, Roland might be reconsidered.

"I'll never forget the words that came out of Roland's mouth, as they were the one of the most shocking that ever reached my ears. He slowly got up off the ground and told You-Know-Who with a murderous look, 'I will not give our child to you. Nor will our child have to face the beatings you gave me when I was in your service, _Father_.'"

As the sounds of the gasps reached her ears, Hermione quickly looked over at Caden, who was once again peaking out of the curtains. To her surprised, Caden did not even seem to hear the fact he was Voldemort's grandson. In fact, he did not even seem to be listening at all. His eyes were eagerly scanning the crowd for something. She looked away from her son, slightly confused.

"You-Know-Who," Hermione said quickly, as the images flooded back into her mind, "then struck Roland in the face. He growled a bunch of dark curses I had never heard of at Roland. I was watching on the ground beside the bed in horror as Roland screamed in pain and his body rolled uncontrollably across the floor. I had never been so terrified in my life, watching him suffer like that and I knew in the back of my mind there was nothing I could do without harming the baby. You-Know-Who never lifted one of the curses until Roland lying at his feet motionless. He kicked his body and ordered two of his followers to dispose of him. He spat at me and told me I would be seeing him in an hour or so.

"I was able to escape before he came back for me. I only took the blanket Roland had given me and the teddy bear as well. I had no idea where to go, but I was constantly moving. When it came time for the baby to be born, I went to a muggle hospital and had my son, Caden. I was then able to find a small cottage in the middle of a large forest soon afterwards. I stayed there with Caden for four years, until I heard about You-Know-Who's downfall."

Hermione finished her tale and was met with absolute silence. She felt the butterflies return to her stomach as she stood there, awkwardly. Suddenly, she heard the sound of two hands slapping against one another. She looked out into the audience and saw that Remus had stood up and was now applauding her. Soon others follow and then the whole audience was out of their seats.

Harry came back to her and hugged her, telling her she did a fantastic job. She gave him a weak smile and nodded before leaving the stage and heading behind the curtain. Hermione's face fell when she saw that Caden was not where she had originally thought. In fact, he was not even backstage.

Frantically, she searched around for him, while receiving regards along the way. Caden was finally found on the other side of the room, nibbling a biscuit with his hands behind his back. He was swaying innocently back and forth as his eyes darted around the ballroom.

Hermione approached him with her eyebrows raised. "Caden, are you alright? You're acting odd."

He looked down passed the biscuit. "I'm fine, Mama." He told her, but then quickly asked. "So all those stories you told me, about Roland, they were really about you and Daddy?"

"Some of them," She answered as she ruffled his black hair.

"So, Daddy was really Roland the whole time?"

Hermione nodded. Caden's face became unreadable to Hermione soon afterwards. She crossed her arms and became frustrated with the fact that she could no longer read her son plainly. Sighing, she told him that she was going out for some air. Caden nodded, and his eyes went back to scanning the room.

She left the ballroom and found herself in a somewhat large garden. There was a cobblestone pathway that twisted behind a well-trimmed rose bush. Hermione followed the path until she found a black park bench in front of a water fountain of some wizard who would occasionally get bored standing there and watered the bushes around him from his place at the fountain.

Hermione let out a huge sigh as she sat down on the bench. She closed her eyes as she listened to the sounds around her, trying to relax after practically pouring her whole life story to over five hundred people, maybe even more. She was too tired to think about it.

She must have been extremely tired, as she did not notice the cloaked figure that stood no less than three feet behind her. It was not until it spoke did she jump up from the bench and turned around, quickly withdrawing her wand.

"Evening, Ms. Granger."


	8. Meetings

Hermione desperately tried not to show the cloaked figure how much her legs were shaking. To cover up her fear, she allowed her face to show no emotion. Her wand was still on the figure as it took a step closer. Hermione froze as it came closer. All she could think about was the time Harry told her about the dark shape that had unicorn blood dripping from its lips he had seen in the Forbidden Forest during their first year. Although it had only been Quirrel, she was still frightened of the image.

The figure tilted its head and examined her more closely. Hermione took a deep breath before tightening her grip around her wand and demand, "What do you want?"

"I wanted to see you." It answered, but the figure's deep voice sounded more like a man's. But she did not put her guard down just yet.

The cloaked man strolled around her with his hands behind his back. She still could not see his face even as he went into the moonlight. She could feel his eyes on her the whole time, making her feel uncomfortable.

"That was an interesting speech you gave, Ms. Granger," he continued. "Were you frightened at all, I mean, during your time with Roland?"

Hermione lowered her wand and glared at him. "No, of course not," she answered and made sure the annoyance in her voice was loud and clear.

"Well, what did you do after he died?" The man asked and crossed his arms.

Hermione's free hand curled into a fist. "I told you in the speech, I stayed at the cottage."

"There was no one else in the picture?"

She had to admit she was shocked by his question. It angered her, a complete stranger asking her personal questions like this. She crossed her arms and gave him a murderous look. "How can I see someone else after all of that?"

His eyes beneath his hood lingered over her for a second. He moved silently around the bench, studying her. She kept her eyes on him at all times. Hermione felt goose bumps appear on her skin as he would occasionally take a step closer and then back again. And throughout the entire time one thought kept flashing through Hermione's mind: Who did this guy think he was?

"So there's nothing going on between you and that red head?" He asked her. He almost spat out the words 'red head'.

Hermione's eyes widened as she knew he meant Ron. "We're not seeing each other like that."

"Have you seen the way he looks at you?" The man shot back, making her turn scarlet. She was thankful it was dark out. She did not wanting whoever this was under the hood to see her turn as red as a tomato.

"We're not dating," Hermione replied angrily. "We never did and we never will."

She could have sworn she heard him let out a sigh of relief, which was followed by a small chuckle. Hermione's face fell and she looked around frantically, seeing if there was any one near enough to hear her. He took another step closer to her. Now he was three feet in front of her and she still could not see his face, not even the outlining of his nose. Her breathing became quick and heavy as her heart began to pound against her chest.

"So after all these years, you didn't have the heart to replace me?" The man asked and she heard the amusement in his voice.

Hermione gave him a strange look, wondering what on Earth he was talking about. But it was enough to make her snap. She stamped her foot down and snapped at him, "Who do you think you are?" And with that, Hermione pulled off his hood. She gasped when she saw his face.

They stood in silence for what seemed like hours but were merely seconds. Hermione was in shock as she looked upon his scarred face made by all the curses thrown at him. His black hair was slightly longer and hung over his tired eyes. She could not believe he was standing in front of her, alive. She could not help but bring her hand up against his cheek to make sure he was actually there.

"Roland?" Her voice cracked as his hand rested on hers. He nodded as he watched her brown eyes begin to water. He could not believe she was there, right in front of him. He was actually touching her hand that rested on his cheek while his other wrapped around her waist.

"But… how? You died right in front of me." Hermione said quietly.

Roland smiled at her. "I told you the Dark Lord wouldn't come between us. That heartless father of mine only managed to knock me out for a few days."

"But there was so much blood and you were in so much pain. I don't know–"

He quieted her by putting a finger on her lips. "Shush," he said to her softly. "Let's ask questions later. You don't know how long I've been searching for you."

They were so close now that Hermione could feel his breath touch her face. Roland was inches apart from her lips. Her eyes began to close as his hands fell to her waist, bring her so her body was pressed against his. Hermione's hands wrapped around his neck and she looked into his gently green eyes.

Roland's lips barely brushed against hers when they heard the sound of little footsteps behind them. Hermione's head fell onto his chest as Roland cursed under his breath. His eyes searched around for the source of the sounds. Caden came out from around the corner of the bush, looking excited and rather pleased with himself.

"Mama, Laurie and I–" He stopped when he saw her with Roland.

Hermione felt her heart race with excitement, causing her to give him a huge grin. After all these years, Caden was finally going to meet his father for the first time. She felt Roland's embrace slowly loosened as his head turned towards the direction of Caden. Hermione cleared her throat and smiled at Roland then at Caden.

"Caden," she said softly. "This is–"

"Daddy, you made it!" The little boy said happily and ran up to his father. Roland grinned at him and picked up his son. Hermione gapped as Caden hugged him and then proceeded to inform him of whatever happened between him and Laurie.

"We got a hold of one of the flying ribbons and it tripped that woman Mama doesn't like. What's her name?" He asked turning to his mother. "Isn't it Skeeter?"

Hermione stared at them both dumbfounded. Caden gave her a confused look as Roland placed him down on the ground. He tugged at Roland's pant's leg, saying "Come on, Daddy. You've got to see this. Her wand turned her hair green, eyebrows too!"

"Hold on a second," Hermione told her son. She looked at Roland. "You know each other? When did you meet?"

"Daddy went after my bear when an owl took it away," Caden answered for him. "Remember that day when we went shopping?"

She was not sure if she should have been angry that Caden talked to a complete stranger that might not have been his father, or at the fact they both kept it a secret from her for three days. Caden noticed the look of rage that had formed in her eyes. He quickly explained it. "I knew it was Daddy because he looked exactly like you told me. You said he had that scar on his eye."

"Hermione," Roland said to her, trying to calm her down. "He looks exactly like me, only," he looked down at Caden. "He's got your eyes." She sent him a murderous look.

"And the fact he was chasing after my bear confirmed it," he added quickly.

"Mama," Caden said, "You understand, don't you?"

She shook her head and glared at Roland. "I don't know why you both kept this from me. Roland, I had a right to know you were alive and back. It would've made my speech a lot easier, knowing you were alive. I was practically bawling my eyes out in front of everyone!"

"But Mama," Caden protested as he stamped his foot on the ground. "We needed to do this. I was in… de-denial!"

Her eyebrows rose. "Why were you in denial?"

"He didn't know what to get you." Roland explained quickly.

She looked back at him. "Why would he have to get me anything?"

Roland rolled his eyes and slapped his forehead. "I don't think she even knows what day it is, Caden." He muttered to his son, who nodded in return.

"Of course I know what today is," Hermione told them. "It's September 19th."

They both exchanged glances and rolled their eyes. Roland finally wrapped his arms around her waist and said to her, "Happy Birthday, Hermione," before his lips pressed against hers. Though she did not expect it, Hermione eagerly deepened the kiss as she wrapped her arms around Roland's neck. Words could not describe how happy she was to be back in Roland's strong embrace and having her chest pressed against his. Caden could not help but turn away in disgust as his cheeks redden.

_In all of his 32 years of living, Roland had never experienced heartache much like this. When he was five and his favorite uncle died, Roland was miserable for sometime, but had to learn to hide it. No one, not even his mother, seemed to care that his uncle was gone. Perhaps it was his father who had forced him not to show any signs of weakness that made him become so cold towards others. But Hermione changed everything. He had never felt this empty before._

_He would have never believed he could love anyone else, either as a brother or a lover. He never tried to show affection before because whenever he did, he would end up getting hurt. He gave up thinking one day someone will love him in return and he would be happy. He never thought about becoming a husband or a father. If you had told him on his twenty-fourth birthday that he would actually fall in love with a muggle-born girl in less than a year's time, Roland might have cursed at you to shut up and made the rest of your life a living hell for the fun of it. He never once had dreams in which he would settle down and become a family man. It had, and would have always been a Death Eater's life for him._

_Roland had been sent to an abandon village one day when his father received news that Potter and his band of friends might be hiding out there. His father told him specifically to destroy the other two that were with him after they had killed four of their best Death Eaters. His father wanted Potter to suffer a horrible loss that would make him vulnerable and easy to defeat. He had been surprised that his father had honored him with such an important task. But Roland did what he was told without asking a single question, but had second thoughts about the assignment when he discovered the person who had dared to throw a rock at the back of his head. _

_After a few years, Hermione and the baby became the one and only thing that made him wake up in the morning. Roland never found out what exactly made his father realize that he had been hiding Hermione in the old Riddle house, much less figure out that she was pregnant. But he and several others came that night and demanded for him to hand her and the baby over. Binky was able to warn him and Roland was able to tell her how to escape from her cell. After trying to attempt murder on him and discovering Hermione had escaped, his father left the house. Roland spent the next few years trying to track Hermione down and had no luck. _

_When Voldemort finally fell, Roland could not have been happier than the day Hermione told him he was going to be a father. Although Roland was able to search for Hermione without the worries of his father and his crew, he had to keep it low. If anyone was to discover that he had been a Death Eater, or even Voldemort's son, he would get a one way ticket to Azkaban. He was also positive that those who had yet to be caught would search for him and demand for him to succeed his father. Roland spent his nights in Muggle London and a few hours of his day eavesdropping on conversations for any news of Hermione in Diagon Alley. _

_As the days of Hermione's birthday approached, the fourth one he had missed since he knew her, Roland kept his time occupied by trying to find the perfect gift as though he would be seeing her. He had his heart sent on a lovely green dress he saw as he passed by a shop. He had been picturing her in the dress when he heard a young boy's voice begin to panic behind him. He looked up and saw a blue teddy bear in grasp of a large gray owl. _

_Roland could not help but notice how much it looked like the one he had when he was little. Within a flash, his wand was in his hands and he was muttering a spell for the owl to drop it. It would not harm the owl, just give him a shock that would cause him to let go of the bear. Roland caught the bear as it fell down into an alleyway. It felt an awful lot like his old bear, the one he had asked Hermione to give to their child after he or she had been born. He looked more closely at the bear's left foot, and right above the small hole, Roland could barely make out the two letters 'RR', practically invisible to the naked eye. Roland's eyes widened, this _was_ his bear. _

"_Sir, can I please have my bear back?" The boy's voice he had heard earlier asked from behind and caused him to turn around. _

_They both said nothing for a while as each examined the other. One look at the boy and Roland knew this was his child staring back at him though he barely believed it. Roland did his best to act as normally as he could, even with the realization his long-lost son was standing before him and he was looking at him for the first time. He looked as though he could have passed for Roland when he was a child. Roland had been keeping track and the boy was around four, same age as his child would be. And Roland would have known those beautiful brown eyes anywhere, they were Hermione's. _

"_I… um, here," Roland said and handed back the teddy bear. He silently cursed himself. After four years of constantly searching and waiting to meet his child, that was the best he could think of? Roland felt his cheeks go red as the boy continued to look at him as though he had no right to own a wand. He did not take the bear back as quickly as Roland would have expected. Rather, the boy studied every inch of his face. _

_His dark eyes lingered over the scar that vertically crossed Roland's own eye. "My daddy has a scar like that." The boy told him as he took a step closer towards Roland. "My mama said he got it from You-Know-Who. How did you get yours?"_

_Roland ran his fingers over his scar, remembering that day. "I got it from the Dark Lord, too. I wouldn't do what he asked of me." Roland said softly, and looked back at the boy._

_The boy's face fell and his eyes widened. "Daddy?"_


	9. Taken

Caden was not sure if he should tell people where his mother was. The looks he was receiving every time someone walked passed him was beginning to become unbearable. His eyes would occasionally steal a glance from the back door that led out into the gardens. But no one seemed to notice, or at least he thought they did not.

He tried to act innocent enough. Laurie would drag him over to the buffet table where his mouth would water at the sight of the cookies and the beautifully decorated cakes. He filled his plate with every thing on the table that sparked his interest and followed Laurie back to a table where her parents were seated.

Remus carefully watched as Caden quietly begin to eat his food for a moment while Tonks helped Laurie cut up her steak. He noticed the anxious expression on the boy's face and could not help but wonder what would have caused that. Perhaps he, like Remus, was worried about Hermione. No one had seen her in over an hour or so. He noticed that Ron was beginning to panic while Harry tried getting away from the photographers to help him look for her.

"So Caden," he said, getting the boy's attention. "Do you know where your mother is?"

Caden's head shot up from the plate in front of him. "No." He said, too quickly for Remus's liking. He eyed the four-year-old suspiciously. Caden shuddered and looked away.

Ron came up to Remus while his eyes looked around the ballroom frantically. "We don't know where Hermione is."

They both turned to Caden, who quickly jumped down from the chair. His hands were behind his back as he stammered, "I d-don't know where she is." Remus and Ron both noticed the sudden glance over at the door that led outside.

"Caden, is your mother outside?" Ron asked him.

"No she isn't!" Caden exclaimed.

Ron went over to the boy and easily lifted him up using the back of his shirt. He looked into Caden's dark eyes and he looked back, frightened. "Caden, listen to me. Your mother is missing, and even though You-Know-Who is gone for good, it's still not safe out there. Now show us where she is."

"But she's safe." Caden reasoned. Ron gave him a look that told him he did not believe him. He placed the boy carefully back down on the ground as Harry came running up to him with Ginny.

"I've checked with everyone and no one knows where she is," he told them breathlessly with his hands on his knees. He and Ginny had bolted away from the photographers as they were changing films.

Ron and Remus looked over at the now-pale Caden. Harry and Ginny followed their gaze as Caden took a step back. Even though he knew he should trust his mother's friends, Caden did not like the fact that four adults, all of whom were like towering giants to him, were watching him to a point where he could not easily slip away as they discussed the situation.

"Caden has been withholding some information," Remus said to Harry and Ginny, not taking his eyes off the boy.

"You know where she is?" Ginny asked eagerly, causing Caden to take another large step away from them.

He nodded. "Mama is fine. She probably doesn't want you talking to her anyways." He told them, remembering the images that caused him to go as red as Ginny and Ron's hair, eventually making him return back inside at a very quick pace.

"Caden, it's still not safe for her to wander off alone," Harry reminded him.

He glared at them and crossed his arms. "I know," he said, slightly annoyed.

"There are still a lot of Death Eaters running around," Ginny added.

"I know," Caden repeated in the same tone.

Within the next moment, Caden found himself being pushed firmly, but somewhat gently, towards the direction of the garden doors by Ron. The group was now joined by Tonks, Laurie, and two Ministry officials that had been searching with Ron for the past hour for Hermione. Caden was not exactly sure where they had come from, but he did not give them another look. They were tall and each had a pair of large arms that looked as though they could break Caden's back in two if he was to go and give them a hug. He did not, obviously. He was rather frightened of them.

So Caden was in front of the group, leading them towards the gardens. He did not know exactly what to expect when he rounded the hedge and the fountain became visible. He was not sure what his parents would be doing. Caden knew they would probably be still catching up with each other, but he did not want the others to see them. Even at his young age, Caden was embarrassed by his parents.

But before they even went around the hedge, his fears were confirmed. Caden froze in his tracks as he heard his father say in a dark growl, "Where are you going? I wasn't finished yet." That was then followed by his mother screaming and a soft thud to the ground.

Ron instantly took out his wand and motioned for Caden and the rest to stay back, like Caden was going to move anyways. He, Harry, Remus, and the two Ministry officials ran around the hedge. They heard Ron bellow, "_Expelliarmus_!" A loud smash was heard and Caden heard his mother scream once again. But this time he knew something was wrong. That particular scream sounded as though she was frightened and shock. Ignoring Ginny and Tonks's pleas for him to stay put, he quickly dashed around the hedge.

The first thing he saw, when he caught up with Harry and the others, was a large black lump on the ground. Caden felt his heart stop when he realized that it was his father, lying on the stone ground motionless with a large gash on his forehead. Ron had smashed him against the building, ten feet from where Caden's mother was and maybe twenty feet high.

Caden then noticed his mother, who was looking at his father with the same look of shock on her face. She had been lying in the grass for there were blades of grass attached to the dress she was wearing. He had seen her after a rough night before, but that was nothing compared to what she looked like now. Her dress was twisted oddly and her lipstick was smeared. Her hair was not what it looked like when Caden had seen her last. She looked as though she had been sleeping on a broomstick while in motion.

Her eyes darted from his father to him, and she used her wand to quickly fix herself. Hermione then ran over to Roland and checked the wound on his head. Caden hesitantly walked up to her and his father and knelt down beside her. He was afraid to see if he was dead. Hermione glared back at Ron, Harry, and the others before shouting, "How could you?"

Ron and Harry exchanged glances as Hermione revived Roland. He groaned in pain, but sat up, hands on his throbbing head. "Why, I outta–" Perhaps he would have said more about his plan had Caden not been there. He looked over at his son, who let out a sigh of relief knowing his father was well enough to think about revenge. Roland finished his sentence silently in his mind, but threw a menacing look at group of people staring fifteen feet away at him and his family.

Caden got to his feet when Hermione helped Roland up and gently touched the newly-formed wound. "Are you alright?" She asked him softly.

He nodded but did not look at her. Instead Roland put his hand on Caden's shoulder and pulled Hermione closer to him, protectively. He then whispered in her ear, "Who are they?"

"They're my friends," She whispered back.

Roland snorted. "Some friends you've got there."

Caden looked up at his father with a grin on his face. Roland smirked back down at him and ruffled his hair. Hermione raised her eyebrows at both of them and smiled at her son and his father. Roland's back suddenly stiffened and his eyes looked away from Caden and glared at Harry, Remus, and Ron, who were coming over.

Hermione's smiled faded as she noticed that Roland had brought Caden between them. He obviously did not trust them with his son. Roland gave them a warning look when they were perhaps five feet away from them. The look Ron wore on his face matched Roland's anger, but he also held hints of confusion the others wore. She did not recognize the other two men with them and she placed both hands on Caden's shoulders, bring him in front of her.

The men, however, were not looking at Caden nor Hermione, neither were they looking at Roland straight in the eye. They were more interested in his forearm as where Harry, Ron, and Remus. Hermione glanced down and, to her horror, realized Roland's Dark Mark was clearly visible. His sleeve had been pushed up passed his elbow when he had flown through the air, giving everyone a perfect view. Hermione did not even bother to wonder why it was showing after Voldemort's death, she was only concerned about what the men would do to him.

One of the men rubbed his chin and smirked at Roland as his tattoo continued to wiggle around noticeable. Caden, unaware of what was being displayed, instinctively moved closer to his parents, eyes on the men. He was confused when he noticed the horrid his mother wore. The other Ministry man took a step closer towards Roland and made a swift move, getting a tight grip around Roland's wrist.

"I thought you looked familiar. Long time, no see, huh Roland? I see you've gotten taller." The man said in a tone Caden did not like.

Roland looked at him murderously. "Good to see you, too, Stebbins and you too, Zeller. I see you've both gotten fatter." He said darkly.

Zeller joined Stebbins, looking at Roland half amused, half furious. "You're not as young as you once were, Roland. Don't think you'll escape this time."

Hermione noticed the mock hurt on Roland's face when Zeller implied that he was old. "I wouldn't be talking, Zeller. You look as though you've only got a few good ones left. Do you really want to waste them on me?"

He winced when Stebbins tightened his grip. Roland glared at him and growled. Stebbins, however, returned Roland's silent threat. "You're under arrest, Roland. Azkaban will finally be housing the son of the Dark Lord for good."

When Caden heard those words come out of Stebbins mouth, his jaw dropped. Hermione wore the same face. He looked helplessly from her to his father, who instantly dropped his act. Roland stood in his place when Stebbins motioned for him to follow and would not move.

Stebbins growled at him. "You're coming with us now!"

Caden held on to his father's leg and looked up at him. "You're not leaving again, are you?"

Roland looked back at him with eyes of sorrow. He opened his mouth to answer but Stebbins did it for him instead. "He's too dangerous to be left here. He's coming with us. Don't worry about him. We'll take good care of him."

But Caden held on as Zeller grabbed Roland roughly by the upper arm, pulling him along. "No!" He shouted at them. "Don't take him away!"

"Let go, boy!" Zeller ordered.

Hermione caught Roland's eyes as she tried to grab a hold of her son, who refused to let go for anyone even her. Roland tried to get out of Zeller's grip to give her one last kiss goodbye. She held her breath as Zeller took out his wand and soon had it up against Roland's neck. He instantly stopped resisting and looked at her helplessly. She bit her lip as she knew Roland really had to go once more while she gently pulled Caden off of his leg.

She brought her son into a hug as a new sound now entered the garden. There were more voices now and the sound of rapid click followed by a flash told Hermione that the media had arrived to see Roland's arrest. Hermione did not even bother to wonder why everyone had turned up, much less heard that he was in the area. Within one hour she was back in Roland's arms, only to be torn away again.

Caden wiggled out of her embrace and looked around frantically for Roland through the bright flashing lights. He was able to make him out near the hedge and ran up to him. Roland felt him grab a hold of his cloak and looked down, silently pleading him to let go before he got hurt. Stebbins lifted Caden up easily as gave him an evil grin.

"You just don't give up, do you?"

"I'll take him," Ginny told Stebbins. Remus and Tonks had the gardens after the reporters came and almost trampled Laurie. Harry and Ron were watching the scene before them, wondering if they should try to call of Roland's arrest or comfort Hermione. Harry had no power yet, he would be starting the job in a few days. Ron then decided to go to Hermione, knowing that his say would probably mean nothing.

"Caden, you have to let go." Roland told him gently. "Don't worry about me, I'll be alright."

He looked up at the woman who was taking Caden away. They locked eyes for a brief moment, but it seemed like an hour. Roland held his breath as her blue eyes widened in realization. She gave him a small smile as Stebbins handed Caden over to her. Roland watched the redhead leave with his son over to Hermione. His head dropped as Stebbins and Zeller pushed away the reporters and apparated him to Azkaban.

"_I don't know what I'm going to do with you," he muttered under his breath as he continued to wrap the bandage around his arm. "Perhaps I can smuggle you out of here." _

_Roland looked up at him thoughtfully. "You mean it?" _

"_YOU BETTER NOT MEAN IT!" A shrill voice hollered from the other room, making them both jump. A short plump woman around her early thirties entered the room with a cigarette in her hand. The woman had hair the color of plums and dark red lipstick. She wore a maroon cloak that was clear to small for her, but she did not seem to care. She was glaring at the both of them with her piercing green eyes. _

"_I will not have you ruin his chances of becoming the next Dark Lord! If he goes with you, you'll get all of the Gryffindor crap stuck in his head." She snapped at her brother. _

_He stood up so that he towered over her and looked at her menacingly. Roland looked from his uncle to his mother. He knew neither was about to back down. His mother had her hands on her hips and was giving his uncle a disgusted look, while the grip on his wand was so tight, his knuckles turned white. _

"_I'll do with my nephew whatever I'll please," he snarled. "You've lost the right to be his mother after you refused to take him to a healer when you threw a metal spike at him. What would've happened if I didn't come over today? His arm is turning green, Cecilia!" He yelled at her. _

_She slapped his face, but he did not even wince. "Don't you tell me how to raise my son, Roland! You weren't so successful with yours." _

_Roland watched as the color drained from his uncle's face. He was shocked that his mother had dared to bring that up. His uncle looked as though he had been hit hard in the stomach with a broomstick. Roland hated to see him like this. He glared at his mother, who was giving his uncle a stern look. But there was a moment when it looked as though she had regretted saying those words. _

_Finally, he let out a deep breath. "What happened to my boy was out of my control. But at least I tried to make him better, unlike you. Roland doesn't deserve this, and if are still the sister I thought you were, you know this too."_

_His mother did not say anything. But she held her nose high in the air, making him angrier. "Give the boy to me, Cecilia. I'm his godfather." He reasoned. _

"_Well that was a mistake." She told him. _

_But to Roland's surprise, his uncle chuckled. "No, it wasn't and you know that. He's named after me as well." _

"_That's only because you were there screaming at me to pick a name." She shot back. _

"_We were in the middle of nowhere being shot at with curses!" He defended. _

_Roland had to admit that his favorite story of all time was him being born. His uncle and mother had been fleeing from a burning village where they had been hiding out from both the Ministry and Voldemort's followers. The Ministry wanted his mother and Voldemort wanted his uncle. Roland's uncle began to panic when his mother told him the baby was coming. He carried her behind a rather large rock as the Death Eaters and Ministry began firing at them and themselves. _

_His uncle was dodging and firing curses left to right as she quickly thought of a name. Roland was not sure why they chose that particular moment to decide on a name for him. They could have waited until they were not under attack while trying to calm down a crying baby, he would not have minded. In the heat of the moment, his uncle began to call out random names until his mother finally screamed over the shouts of the men and wailing of the baby, "ROLAND, SHUT UP!" _

_He, the baby, must have been shocked because he instantly stopped crying. His uncle looked down at the baby and smirked at his mother. "Well there you go. Roland it is then." She must have really hated him at that moment. _

_Roland came back to reality when he heard the shouting die down. His mother and uncle were looking at him strangely. Roland held his breath and turned red as he realized he must have been laughing at the memory. _

_His mother turned back to his uncle. "Look, you're already a strange influence on the boy. You better leave before…" Her voice trailed off. _

_That one moment had been the only time Roland had seen his mother looking at anyone with concern. His uncle nodded, understanding what she meant. She and her son lived in an old mansion which, on Voldemort's orders, was to be protected at all costs. He never really liked his uncle and the rest of his mother's family. Roland even had reason to believe he no longer liked his mother too after finding out that she had been a Gryffindor. But he needed her to raise his heir. _

_The older Roland gave her a hug and whispered to her, "Take care of yourself, little sis, and my little godson too." _

_She shot her son a look when her brother was not looking and left the room without saying a goodbye to him. His uncle rolled his eyes and turned to face his nephew. He knelt down so they were facing face to face. "If she or anyone else does something to you, you know how to contact me, right?" _

_Roland glanced over at the two-way mirror on the nightstand beside his bed and nodded. His uncle smiled at him and then pulled a package wrapped in red paper with golden stripes out of thin air. Roland looked at it with interest when he placed it on his lap. _

"_What's this for?" He asked him. _

"_It's your birthday present," His uncle answered. His smiled faded when Roland did not react. "My little bud's turning five today. That's a big day, isn't it?"_

_Roland shrugged and carefully tore of the paper. His eyes widened in surprise when he realized what laid before him was a blanket. It was dark green with a flannel pattern, but it felt as smooth as silk and thick as leather. But what really surprised Roland that, unlike the other things he own, this blanket looked new. _

"_I didn't think your mother would like Gryffindor colors, so I gave you a green one instead." His uncle explained. "You'll never find anything else like it, Roland. It will keep you warm no matter how cold it is." _

_The sound of the front door slammed below them and his uncle silently cursed. Heavy footsteps could be heard on the wooden floor below them. His uncle ruffled his hair and quietly stood up straight. He looked back down at his nephew, who looked at him with concerned eyes. _

"_I'll come back in a few days, Roland." He promised and quickly left the bedroom. _

_But he never did. _


	10. An Article

"Hey, Caden and Hermione are not up yet, right?" Harry asked Ginny and Ron, who were sitting in the main room of the Burrow the next morning. Ron, who had been staring into the fire with his arms crossed, looked up at him.

"Why?" He said through his teeth. Ron had made no effort to hide how much he loathed the fact Roland was now back, not that anyone blamed him.

Harry threw down the _Daily Prophet_ that had been in his hands down on the coffee table. On the front cover were Stebbins and Zeller pushing away other photographers with Roland, struggling to get away and back to Hermione and Caden, who in the background. The title was written in large black letters about two inches high. As Harry reread the title, "**Dark Lord's Brutal Son Discovered!**", his eyes quickly darted over to the article.

Rita Skeeter, he should have known. The article was mainly about Roland's capture and his so-called twisted mind. She mention some things in the past he supposedly had done and using the picture above, she devised a clever story saying he was only back to destroy Harry, but found Hermione first. Harry had to admit he did look menacing in the photo at times. She did not even mention the speech about him Hermione gave earlier, although Rita Skeeter does mention Caden being Voldemort's grandson and questions why they did not capture him as well.

Ginny examined the article over Harry's shoulder. "You know, she only wrote that because Caden made her look like a fool."

"Yeah, but people reading this don't." Harry replied.

"She makes him sound like a monster," Ginny whispered.

Harry and Ron exchanged glances before giving her the same strange look. "How would you know? You haven't even met him." Ron told her.

"I know him well enough to tell you he wouldn't hurt anyone." Ginny snapped and left the room for breakfast.

Ron let out a sigh and looked back down at the newspaper. "Why did he have to come back, Harry? I mean, don't you think Hermione and I could've…?"

Harry did not say anything at first. He did not know Roland well enough to make any accusations about him. He was not sure what exactly Roland had done in the past as a Death Eater. He could have been behind a lot of the attacks, like that one that had taken place shortly after Harry had finished his education at Hogwarts. Roland could have helped Wormtail bring Voldemort back to life. He could have been the one that pulled what was left of Voldemort's body out of the wreckage before Hagrid arrived. He could have been the one that told Voldemort and Quirrel that the stone had been taken to Hogwarts in Harry's first year.

No one but Hermione knew Roland well enough to say with confidence that he was not involve with anything to do wit Voldemort's attempts to return to power. Maybe Voldemort had a good reason to try and kill Roland that Hermione did not know about. After all, she only knew what he told her. He could have been plotting to overthrow his father.

"I don't know, Ron," Harry said, getting back to his question. "But you've got to remember, there's still a trial. He might not be what Hermione thinks he is."

Ron's face brightened. "You think?"

He shrugged, "Just don't get your hopes too high, OK?" They got up from the couch they had been sitting on. Ron looked hopefully as he strolled into the kitchen, while Harry balled up the paper and followed him.

To their surprise, they found Caden sitting at the table. He was extremely pale and his eyes were red and puffy. He was staring at the plate in front of him and made no moves to grab the bacon that Mrs. Weasley had given him. Caden looked tired and his whole body was shaking more than it had been when he first arrived at the Burrow.

Ginny was sitting next to him and was trying to get him to eat something. "Come on, Caden. I thought you could never say no to a Weasley breakfast, or meal for that matter."

"I'm not hungry," he said quietly. "I ate enough last night."

She frowned at him. "Well, what about your mother? Do you think she's hungry?"

Caden shook his head. "She said she lost her appetite. Mama got the newspaper today and there was a picture of Daddy on the front."

The three exchanged glances. None of them knew that Hermione had received the paper each day. If they had, they might have been able to steal it from her before she read it. Caden picked up his fork and began to fiddle with the bacon strips and eggs.

"Who took that picture for Rita Skeeter anyways?" Ginny asked Harry and Ron suddenly. Ron shrugged and returned to his toast. Harry pointed to the waste basket where he had thrown the paper in. Ginny went over and dug it out. She returned to the table and smoothed it out.

"Oh, I should've guessed Colin." Ginny said to herself and went over to the fireplace. They heard her yell an address and then heard the flames erupt. There was complete silence for a few moments before they heard a small bang in the other room. Ginny returned with Colin Creevey, both covered with soot, and placed him down in one of the chairs.

Colin was still shorter than Harry, Ron, and even Ginny. His usually mousy hair was slightly darker and had bits of ash clinging to it. And, as usual, Colin was carrying a camera that was bigger than his head. He looked slightly afraid of Ginny as she returned to her seat and had her arms cross, but then he noticed Harry.

"Hi Harry!" He said excitedly. Colin was about to take a photo of him, but the look on Ginny's face told him otherwise. "I got a job for the _Daily Prophet_. It's not exciting as it was when I was working for you during the war, but still…"

"Speaking of which," Ginny shoved the _Daily Prophet_ in his face. She pointed to the photo of Roland when he grabbed it from her hands and put it down in front of him. "Do you remember who this is?"

Colin's face fell and he slowly nodded. "Yeah, I haven't forgotten him." His head looked up from the paper to those staring at him. He then knew what this was all about.

"Listen, I just happened to be at the ball. I only brought my camera to take pictures for myself, I wasn't working. And then there was talk that he was here, and I wanted a picture. I was developing the photo when Rita Skeeter came to my house and asked for some of the photos. I wasn't even going to give her that one. She saw it, took it out of the tray, handed me a sack of gold, and left." He told them.

There was a silence that filled the air when Colin finished speaking. Caden had not been listening. It did not matter to him who took the photo. But those lies that had been printed made his blood boil. Colin looked over nervously at Ginny.

"You believe me, right?" He asked her. "Why would I want him to go to Azkaban? He helped us out in a way that I can't even repay."

Ginny nodded. "Sorry about that Colin. It's just that Hermione's been in her room all morning and we're beginning to get worried. And remember what happened with Dennis?"

"Ginny, I told you before I never really did blame him for Dennis's death."

She looked down at her hands on her lap. "It's just that you were so angry and upset when he died."

"Well, I'm sorry if I made it sound like I hated him afterwards. But I owe my life to him. If it weren't for Roland, I'd probably be dead too." Colin said.

He looked at each of them sadly, especially Caden. During Hermione's speech, she mentioned her son, but he never would have thought he looked so much like Roland. Even the way his hair fell into place was exactly the same as Roland's. And according to Hermione, the boy would have just met his father. He could not help but feel pity for him.

Colin got up from the table and tried giving Ginny and Caden a reassuring smile. "Hey, if he's still the same guy we met almost ten years ago, he'll be out of Azkaban in no time. Just you wait." He said and disapparated back to his house.

Ron looked from the place where Colin had been and over to Ginny. "What does he mean, 'the same guy we met almost ten years ago'? Do you know him?"

Ginny shrugged, "We've met. But I never knew his name before last night. Come on, Caden, you need to eat something before there's nothing."

"_Why do you hate me?" Roland looked up and asked the sky. _

_He had not been gone for ten minutes and when he returned, his house was in ruins. The beautiful house that had taken him months to build was now nothing but a pile of black wooden frames and ash. Roland could see the forest and the small shed beyond the burnt ground where his house once stood. He curled his hand into a fist and kicked down the reminder of his front door in anger only to be rewarded with a cloud of ash that made him cough horribly. _

_Frustrated, angry, and tired, Roland marched over the fallen door and began to search to see if anything was left of his possessions. He found the picture of him and his uncle when he was four with the corner slightly burned off. Roland folded it and stuffed it into his pocket. He found his once-blue teddy bear under the broken frame of his bed and his blanket with it. Roland shrank them and put them in his pocket along with the picture. He was able to unearth several books, a spoon that had been melted but still useful, the pocket watch he had stolen from one of his father's Death Eaters, his father's old address book, and a cracked remembrall._

_Once he had gathered whatever remained that would be useful, Roland hastily walked through the streets of the Muggle town his house had been built near. Even though the sun had already set, there were still people walking around. They all gave Roland an odd look as he passed by. He could not blame them for noticing how strange it was to see a 19-year-old covered in soot walking at a quick pace out of the town. They probably thought he was up to no good, or when they discover his home in the morning, they would think that he was the one who lit it on fire. _

_Roland was able to make it out of the town and into the forest with anyone trying to stop him. He made sure he was far from their earshot before he apparated to the outskirts of Little Hangleton. Roland knew that his family owned a few houses there. Perhaps he could spend the night in one as they both should be empty. Roland had no family on either parent's side. His father's parents both abandoned him, and whoever remained was killed. His mother's parents were long gone, as well as herself and her brother. _

_He took out the small address book. It did not have many entries and the handwriting was a bit difficult to read. The book was old and the pages were yellow. This had been his father's when he had just left school. Roland skimmed through some of the names, most of which were useless. He found the first one that seemed familiar, Gaunt, and quickly apparated near there. _

_When he arrived at the cottage, Roland frowned. The forest had pretty much taken it over. Vines and moss were covering the whole front of the house. Some of the vines even went through the windows. Thick weeds had grown in front of the door, which bits of a skeleton had nailed to it. A large tree branch had fallen through the roof and another tree seemed to be growing out of the house. Roland shook his head and quickly searched for the other address. _

_He apparated to an old mansion, which looked in much better condition than the cottage did. Its lawn was well taken care of and there were no skeletons on the door. But it looked as though the house itself had not been used in years. The windows were boarded up and a small layer of ivy grew on the house. Even some of the tiles from the roof were missing. But Roland was not going to complain. He was able to break in through a side door and crept inside. _

_It was dark inside the house. He could barely make out the outlining of the furniture in the hall he was in. Roland used his hands to feel around in the dark. He found a banister and began to climb up the stairs, assuming there were bedrooms up there. He found one with what seemed to be a rather large bed. _

_Roland took off his robes so he was only wearing a shirt with pants. He collapsed on the bed and let out a sigh as he pulled the sheets over him. He was too tired to care that the bed was old and probably filled with mold. The bed was still better than sleeping on the ground, he thought as he rolled over to one side. He was also too tired to care that someone, or something, had ripped the sheets off of him. _

_His eyes flew open and he bolted upright. He could feel something else beside him on the bed. Roland hesitantly felt around for the other figure next to him. He felt someone breathing on his palm as his fingers came in contact with what seemed to be like someone's nose. Roland yelped in surprise and fell off the bed with a loud thud._

_At once, the room was filled with light when someone lit the fireplace across the room. Roland rubbed the back of his head and looked up at the bed from his place on the ground. He instantly recognized who had been next to him as they looked down from the bed and down at Roland. He glared at Peter Pettigrew and stood up to shake the dust off of himself. _

"_See, Wormtail? Even my son comes when he receives word that I'm back," a voice said from across the room. _

_Roland searched for the source and his eyes widened when he came face to face with his father. He felt his stomach flip over when he looked at him, disgusted. He knew his father had gone to great lengths to make sure no one could kill him, but this was too far. He looked like a pale, alien baby, whose parents even turned him away because he was so hideous. Roland looked away from his father's red eyes and looked at Pettigrew, wondering how he was alive. _

"_See, unlike you, Wormtail, my son came out of loyalty to his father," Voldemort snapped at him. "Isn't that right, boy?" Roland felt his eyes return to him. _

_He looked down at his feet and swayed from side to side, debating on whether or not to tell his father that he had not believe that he was back and just came here for shelter. Out of the corner of his eye, Roland noticed his Dark Mark almost as black as the ash where his house had been. There was no way out of it now, he thought. _

_Voldemort glared when his son took to long to answer. "What's your purpose here, boy? And tell the truth!" He hissed. _

_Roland let out a deep breath. "I… well, you see, my house burnt down." He muttered and avoided his gaze. _

_He heard his father growl and mutter something about him being worthless. Roland grabbed his robes that was still on the floor and put it back on. Obviously, he would not find sleep here. He glared at his father before turning to leave the room. He was almost at the doorway, when the door slammed close on his face and he stumbled back a few steps. _

"_I didn't say you could leave," Voldemort told him as Roland turned to look at him, while rubbing his forehead. "Why didn't you come when you knew I was back?" He demanded. "There was a huge article in the _Daily Prophet_ about the Dark Mark during the Quidditch World Cup. Why didn't you bother to search for me?"_

_Roland could not help but roll his eyes. "I'm not going to be parading around England every time someone claims you're back." Roland told him hotly. "And it wasn't even you who did it. They mention Death Eaters only, not you." He growled._

"_Besides, I thought I wasn't worthy to be in your presence." He added._

_Voldemort was silent for a moment. "That was different. You were a child then, but now you're fully grown. I mean, look at you. You've got the build for an excellent Death Eater."_

_Roland lowered his guard for a moment. When he was younger, he did, at times, want to please his father in order for him to stop hurting him. For a moment, Roland actually considered forgiving him. He had never received a compliment like that from him before. But he shook his head and crossed his arms, remembering that his father only wanted him as a follower, not a son._

_His father glared at him and gripped the wand that had been lying next to him. "You will join me again, Roland, right? _IMPERIO!_" _

_He felt as though he was on top of a soft cloud, although looking around, Roland knew he was no where near heaven. He heard his father's voice in his mind, ordering him to bow down and offer his services. Roland hesitated for a moment, but shook his head and refused to move. Before his father had lost his power, he had been under the curse so much that he was able to regain control of himself quickly._

"_BOW DOWN!" Roland heard him scream inside his mind, but once again he refused. A sharp pain entered his mind, causing him to cry out and fall down to the floor. While his mind was so absorbed in caring for the pain, the voice came back and ordered him to bow again. _

_Roland slowly did as he was told and instantly the once-wonderful feeling left him. He heard his father laugh darkly as he stumbled to get up while clutching his forehead. He glared at him, and quickly opened the door to leave the room. Roland slammed the door closed behind him and rested against the door, breathing heavily from the curse that had been thrown at him._

"_One day, Father, one day." He growled under his breath. The tattoo on his arm was darker than ever. _


	11. Caged

"Do you think I'm doing the right thing?" Hermione asked Ron as she looked away from the door that had been slammed in her face.

Ron shrugged as he pulled over his hood and handed Hermione the other cloak. "Caden will be fine here. Like you said, 'Azkaban is no place for children'."

She followed Ron downstairs to the front door where Ginny was waiting for them. Roland's trial would be held tomorrow afternoon. If he was found guilty of any crimes he committed, he would no longer have any visitation rights. Hermione wiped her eyes, thinking about what would happen if he was sent to Azkaban for good. She would never see him again.

It was even horrible the way Caden had acted when she had to break the news to him. Like her, he was upset that his father was being tried, but angry when he heard he would not be able to visit him. It first the argument seemed harmless. He demanded to know why he could not go, but he got worse when she and Ron told him that he was not old enough to go to Azkaban. For a moment, Hermione could have sworn his eyes were blood-red when a plate went whizzing by their heads. Caden ended up yelling that he hated her for not letting him go and used all of his energy into making sure that when the door closed, she could hear it. Unfortunately her face felt it too and she was hurt even further when Caden did not bother to see whether or not she was alright.

Ron watched as the battle in her mind showed on her face and in her eyes. He could tell she was having second thoughts about the trip to Azkaban and was thinking about maybe taking Caden as well. He growled quietly. After that behavior he displayed, why would she want to bring him? That whole argument that had played right before Ron's eyes told him that if Caden could suddenly act that way, why not this Roland? He had not forgotten his first meeting with the man, involving him on top of the only girl he had ever truly loved.

Harry had been the one that brought up the idea for Hermione to go and visit Roland while she still could. Ginny wanted to go to thank him for whatever he had done for her in the past, which was still a mystery to everyone. Though it was his idea, Harry could not go because he was starting his new job today. This left only Ron to make sure everyone got from point A to point B and back again. As much as he objected to even going near Roland, much less going to Azkaban as well, Ron went anyways, for Hermione's sake.

"Are we ready?" Ginny asked them once they were down the stairs. Ron glanced over at Hermione, who nodded. He reluctantly did as well. Ginny smiled and all three of them apparated towards the shore of the North Sea.

It was raining so hard when they arrived that they were soaked to the bone in an instant. The clouds above were dark and heavy, making it appear to be night instead of day. The wind was blowing hard and the waves were crashing loudly against the shore. Hermione's eyes widened in disbelief when she noticed a tiny wooden boat fighting the waves with a little old man wearing a raincoat inside it coming towards them.

"That's what we're riding in?" She yelled over the roar of the wind. Ron, barely noticeable under his hood, nodded grimly.

The old man greeted them and helped them inside the boat. Some how he was able to row them the entire distance to the prison without getting tired or causing anyone to go over board. As the prison's figure came into view, Hermione began to shiver furiously as did everyone else. She could see Ron's breath under his hood.

Ginny thanked the old man and paid him with three galleons. She led Ron and Hermione up to the prison as though she went there every week. Hermione tried to warm herself as they got closer and closer towards the gate. After Lord Voldemort's reign of terror, the dementors were taken back to Azkaban and were under oath that none of them could leave their posts unless order by a majority of the Ministry of Magic. Hermione felt something heavy being placed on her shoulders and looked up to see that Ron had given her his cloak.

"It's not much, but perhaps it'll help," he said to her with a reassuring smile. Hermione returned him, thanking him silently.

They went inside the prison and it was not much better. Hermione felt the familiar feeling of no longer being cheerful ever again as she entered the fortress. Inside, she could hear murmurs from around the corner, the sound of dripping water, and an occasional scream that would make her and Ron jump. Ginny walked up to a nearby dementor, making sure her face was expressionless.

"Where's Roland?" She asked it. The dementor tilted its head under its hood, perhaps wondering who she was looking for.

Ginny kept a straight face and tried again. "Where's the Dark Lord's son?"

The dementor did not respond at first. After a moment, it slowly began to glide down the hall to its left. Hermione and Ron exchanged glances before following Ginny and the dementor. Hermione dared not to look at the prisoners as she passed. She heard them muttering nonsense to her left and her right. She kept her eyes on the stone floor and followed Ron's feet up a staircase and down another hall to her left.

The group suddenly stopped, causing Hermione's head to look up from the ground. The dementor was now pointing to a cell to its right where two other dementors were stationed. Hermione, forgetting that they were there, ran up to the cell. Inside, it was dark and cold and she could barely make anything out.

"Roland?" She whispered, looking around frantically for him. He did not answer or make any sounds of movement. Ron hesitantly crouched down beside her, took a quick look in the cell, and rubbed her back as Hermione kept her eyes on the darkness.

Ginny bit her lip before turning to one of the dementors. "He's not…?"

One of them shook its head under its cloak. "_No_," it said in a cold, scratchy voice. "_This one is still alive_."

"Roland?" Hermione tried again and said his name a little louder.

There came a sound of something moving around on the dry hay that had been placed on the floor. Ron's hand left Hermione's back and he glared at the source of the sound. Roland suddenly appeared across from Hermione. He did not smile, probably because of the dementors, but just to see him made Hermione's heart leap. The dementors instantly became tense beside her, but they fought the urge to move.

"Hermione… you're here." Roland said softly and somewhat confused. His vision was a bit blurry, but he knew her voice anywhere. "Caden's not here, is he?"

He was able to make out her head shaking. Roland hesitantly moved towards her and touched her face, feeling how cold she was. He could feel her shivering making him frown.

"You shouldn't have come, Hermione." He told her. "You're as cold as death. I don't want to be sitting here thinking you're sick while I'm stuck here and could do nothing about it."

"Roland, I'm fine," She told him and held his hand in hers. He looked down and was able to make it out. He placed a kiss on her hand and looked into what he assumed was her eyes. His desperately tried to stay awake to see her, even though he was extremely tired from the night before when several Ministry officials, reporters, and for some reason, protesters were yelling at him outside his cell.

Hermione frowned when she noticed his attempts at staying awake. "What happened? Are you alright?"

He gave her a small smile. "I'll be alright. I'm just tired."

Roland's eyes slowly wandered over from Hermione to the two redheads behind her. He could not help but glare at the one with the shorter hair, knowing it was the man who had attacked him the night before and landed him here in Azkaban. If he was not mistaken, the man was glaring back and would occasionally glance over at Hermione with concern. Roland gave him a real warning look at this.

The next redhead was a woman based upon how long her hair was and the style he was able to make out. As his eyes came into focus, Roland inhale sharply when he realized it was the woman he had seen the night before. He had instantly recognized her, even though her face had aged and she looked more like a woman now. She gave him the same smile when he had seen her last.

"I– you…" He started, but could not find any words to say to her.

The woman crouched down next to Hermione and hesitantly looked into his eyes. "I just wanted to thank you for all you did." She said slowly.

Roland did not reply for a moment. He knew deep down what he did was the right thing, but he often regretted it. Upon instinct, Roland traced his scar with his free hand. It caused the woman to look down from him.

"We all know what you did was brave and maybe even hard for you," she continued. "But it really meant a lot to us."

Perhaps it was in his blood, but for a moment Roland glared at her. A little voice entered his mind telling him to tell her that he regretted doing it. It told him that because of them, his face was now scarred forever. But another stronger, louder voice urge him to say,

"You're welcome." He told the woman shortly. She frowned when she heard the rather forced tone in his voice but said nothing. Roland turned his attention back to Hermione and kissed the back of her hand once more, ignoring the confused look on her face.

"Hermione, as much as I love you and want you to stay, you need to leave before you get sick." He told her. When she opened her mouth to protested as did Roland to reply, Ron put his hand on Hermione's shoulder, making Roland growl at him.

"Hermione, we need to get going anyways. The man's waiting for us at the shore." He paused for a moment before hastily adding, "You'll see him tomorrow at the trial."

"_I can't believe you choose that brat to do the torture the prisoners!" He stopped in his place when he heard the words 'brat' and 'torture' emerge from the other room. Roland gulped and silently walked over to the slightly opened door and looked inside. He saw the back of his father's chair, Pettigrew, the Lestranges along with Mr. Malfoy gathered together in his father's study. _

"_Wormtail, would you kindly open the door and let my son in?" came his father's voice. _

_Roland's eyes widened as he watched Pettigrew approach the door. Roland was frozen in his place to move away and back towards his own room, where he was originally heading. Pettigrew grabbed Roland roughly by the shoulders and dragged him into the room, which looked rather odd seeing a six foot man being pushed around by someone more than a head shorter than him. Roland fixed his robes before looking at his father, wondering what he had to do this time. _

_His father's voice came once again from behind the chair. "So, boy, as you kindly heard from Bellatrix, you'll be in charge of the prisoners during their time here." _

_He tilted his head and could not help but wonder why his father all of a sudden chose him to do this sort of job as he had never really done anything of the sort before. Roland glanced at the people around him before quietly asking, "Which group are we talking about here?" _

"_Rodolphus and Lucius will show you to your assignments." Voldemort told him. Roland looked over at Malfoy and Lestrange with a hint of interest in his eyes. Lucius gave him a disgusted look and left the room without waiting to see if Rodolphus or Roland would follow him. Roland gave his father's chair a doubting look before he left. His eyes caught Bellatrix's, who looked as though she was trying to zap him with her eyes. _

_Roland walked at a fast pace to catch up with the two older men. He began to calm down once he was beside Rodolphus, who was giving him a good look as they walked. _

"_So your father thinks you're ready to play with the big boys," Rodolphus started out. "It's about time, huh Roland?"_

_Roland could not help but glare at the man. He was somewhat ashamed that his father did not think he was worthy enough to take part in some of their missions. Maybe his father asked for him because he finally thought he was good enough. Maybe it was because of the fact that Roland was now 22 and he knew he needed more young blood to add to his army. Or maybe it was because he had recently lost a large amount of death eaters and they need replacing. _

"_You'll be in charge of everyone in there," Lucius said to him shortly once they arrived at a steel door a few moments later. Roland looked passed him and tried to see if he could see any of the prisoners, but there was no window to look through. _

_Lucius left without another word and Rodolphus gave Roland a smirk before leaving him to his duties. Roland took a deep breath before using his wand to open the door. He was instantly taken back by what he saw inside. He hesitantly took a step forward as though he could not believe they were real. _

_About twenty kids, maybe the oldest was a year younger than him, were staring back at him as though he was the bringer of death. Some of them backed away while other glared at him. All of them looked tired, cold, and dirty. Several were whimpering and some were trying to calm each other down. There were ever some kids were looking as though they were going to fight him with their fists and hoped they win. After all, he was only one man, but he did have a wand in his hand. _

_Roland's eyes fell upon a girl with flaming red hair, who was giving him the most disgusted look he had ever seen. She was with a boy with light brown, almost blonde, hair and was shorter than her, but they looked the same age. The boy was not looking at Roland but rather another body beside him. From what Roland could tell, the boy was in tears. _

_He took a step back out of the cell. How could he torture those children the way his father wanted him to? Most of them were probably tortured enough just by being here. How did his father get those children anyways? The girl with red hair glared at Roland as he tried to figure out what to do with them. _

"_If you're here to kill us, do it quick." She told him. _

_Roland looked up from the floor and at her. "I'm not here to kill you." _

"_Fine, then torture us quickly." She snapped and crossed her arms. The boy next to her looked at her terrified, as did many of the others, like she had just signed their souls away. _

_Without thinking Roland shook his head and blurted out, "I'm not going to torture you." _

_He took a deep breath as he glanced down the hall, seeing if anyone was watching him. He knew he should not do this for his own sake, but he knew his father should not do this as well. Roland hastily went into the cell and slammed the door shut behind him. _

_Several of the children gasped as he walked by. The boy next to the redhead spoke up first, "What are you doing?" He demanded. _

"_I can't torture you like this." Roland answered. "I'm letting you go." _

_He quickly took out his wand and moved towards the back of the cell. Looking back at the kids, he once again took a deep breath and said to them, "If you're ever in a situation where you need to break someone out, here's what you do." _

_Roland used his wand and tapped the bricks in the center so they made a giant V. The walls trembled and moved out of the way. The children looked at him as though it were April Fool's Day and he was playing with them. None of them believed a death eater would do a thing like this. He looked at the door frantically before quickly trying to usher them out of the cell. _

_The redhead girl helped the boy next to her lift up another boy. Roland looked at the other boy and took noticed how much he looked like the other boy, perhaps his younger brother. He also took noticed that the younger brother was dead and his heart fell. Even though he had allowed them to escape they still sent him an angry look as they passed him. _

_Roland waited for a moment, making sure no one knew of the escape before returning the wall back to its normal position and opening the cell's door. He quietly left the hall and continued down another hall that lead towards his room. He was barely inside when he heard a loud voice right in front of him. _

"_ROLAND!!!" A flash of red light appeared in front of him and Roland's hand flew to his eye as he screamed in pain. It felt as though a knife was trying to cut his face open. But Roland felt no knife. He did, however, feel blood leak through his fingers and a deep wound that went vertically down his right eye. Roland fell down to his bedroom floor and blacked out as he saw his father's cloak walk by him. _


	12. The Trial

Caden chanced a glance over at his mother, who had suddenly gripped his hand a little too tight. He was not sure whether or not he should pull his hand away since she was holding it so tightly, it was crushing his fingers as well as the bones in his palm. Caden thought about it for a moment before wiggling his hand out of her grasp and held her hand properly so they both would not get hurt. He gave her a small smile as she tore away her gaze from the doorway where Roland was supposedly going to answer.

"Mama, you believe Daddy's good, right?" He asked her after a moment or so.

Hermione smiled at him and ruffled his dark hair. "Of course I know your father's a good man."

"Then why are you so nervous?"

She had no reply, but luckily she did not have to answer him as Remus and Tonks joined them in the stands. As Tonks began to engage Caden in a conversation, most likely to keep his mind off the trial, Remus gave her a small grin that told her they were there for her, no matter what the Ministry was able to get out of Roland. She bit her lip nervously as she pondered Caden's question.

Roland had had a rough childhood; she knew that mostly based upon his scars. And with Voldemort as a father, who knows what he could have gotten himself into? Now that she thought about it, he never really told her what he did for Voldemort. She did not know whether or not he had been any of the masked cloak figures they had met before. She was not sure how many people he had actually hurt, how many families he had ripped apart.

Remus watched the many questions and possible answers appear on her face. He knew she was struggling, perhaps doubting that man. Remus personally was not fond of him, but this man was Caden's father. He had mixed feelings about whether or not Roland should stay in Azkaban. If he was found guilty, Caden's last memory of him would be being dragged away by dementors before he got the chance to know him. If Roland was found innocent, Remus would not trust him alone with anyone. After all, he had Voldemort's blood running through his veins. Perhaps there was a psycho gene and he could try to rise as the next Dark Lord.

"Hermione," Remus said suddenly. "Whatever the outcome of this trial, you know you've always got a place to stay with us."

She looked at him confused for a moment, wondering what would make him say that all of a sudden. But before she got a chance to reply, the room suddenly went cold. Hermione could feel Caden shivering next to her and he buried his head under her arm. Across the room, the door flew open and in glided two dementors, each had a tight grip around each of Roland's arms.

Caden heard the sounds of someone's footsteps entering the room. He slowly peered out from behind his mother and saw that his father had entered the room. He instantly smiled at him, but it faded when he took notice of the other two things that were dragging him. What were they? They seemed so horrible.

As some man came up from behind the dementors, who put and strapped Roland to the chair, Roland caught sight of Hermione in the stands. There were a lot of people in front of him, most of which were looking at him as though he were some sort of poisonous snake. He smiled at Hermione and then saw Caden come out from behind her. He missed them both and as he sat there with the man holding out a goblet to him, all he could think about was running up to them, giving Hermione a kiss she could never forget, and hugging Caden, perhaps even give him a piggyback. He had always wanted one when he was a kid.

The man pulled Roland's head backwards and forced him to drink whatever substance was in the goblet. Roland unwillingly forced it down and shot that man a deadly glare. He quickly realized where he was and got rid of it, but the man still noticed though he did not say anything. Perhaps he gets that a lot.

In front of Roland, a man with neatly combed, dark gray hair and a mustache cleared his throat. Roland rolled his eyes and looked down at the bounds wrapped around his wrists as the trial began. The man spoke and Roland forced himself to look up.

"Name?" The man asked.

"Roland Marvolo Riddle," He answered instantly and shut his mouth when he realized he had told him that without even thinking about it. He cursed under his breath. That man had given him veritaserum.

"Date of Birth?"

"Umm… June 6th 1975." Roland told him. "I'm 32, in case you're wondering." He did not really feel like having them waste his time on things such as this.

The man grunted and proceeded to the next question. "You're the Dark Lord's son, is that correct?"

"Yes," Roland answered obediently.

"We have no record for your birth. Care to explain?"

Roland glared at him. "I was born in the middle of a field behind some stupid rock. Since there was about half the population out looking for my family, do you think my uncle and mother were that stupid as to wander into St. Mungo's with me?" He paused for a moment. "But if they did, the good news is that you all would not be here wasting your time."

"Mr. Riddle, another outburst like that and I'll gladly send you back to the dementors. I heard you're quite friendly with them." The man snapped at him like a child.

"I never worked with dementors. My father did not trust me with them." He muttered.

The man leaned forward slightly with interest, telling Roland to go on. He rolled his eyes before continuing. "Just because I'm his son, doesn't mean he treats me above all the others. He never did like me. Practically abandoned my mother after he found out I was what he called a 'mutt'."

"A mutt, you say? How so?" asked some woman, who said behind the man up a few stands and to the left.

"He called me a mutt because I'm a Gryffindor and Slytherin mix. To Voldemort," he was rather surprised when most of them shuddered, "Gryffindors and Slytherins are just the same as purebloods and muggle-borns are to you as well. Every one in my mother's family was a Gryffindor from start to finish. And he was the same in Slytherin. It's kind of like a mudblood."

"Why don't you tell us about your mother's family?" Another wizard asked him. Roland was not sure where to begin that. What exactly did they want to know about her?

He decided to tell them the basics. "My grandfather had died before my mother was born and my grandmother died maybe a couple of years after that. My uncle was the older of the two by six years and he was always protective of my mother, you know how some brothers are like that. They lived in an orphanage and both got letters to Hogwarts, and then they both became Gryffindors. I guess my mother felt left out when my uncle started to date and she went out to find her soul mate, like he found his.

"She wasn't so successful and soon fell into Voldemort's crowd, while my uncle got married and had his first kid, a boy named Daniel. Voldemort used my mother as a spy to check up on the Ministry since my uncle had once worked here. He found out what she was up to around the time his son became sick. Soon he could barely sleep. He needed to find a cure for Daniel, make a living, and keep my mother out of trouble. Daniel's medicine was a lot of money, so the sicker Daniel got, the hard my uncle worked and was unable to spend time with him. He died when he was four while my uncle was away in Romania. His wife was so upset with him that she drowned herself before he came home.

"By now my mother was a complete psycho and she teased him about what happened to his family. He put up with it and continued to try to help her out. He was horrified and angry with her and Voldemort when he learned about me. But after I was born, he suddenly gave up on my mother and focused on me. He taught me how to be like a Gryffindor and protected me from my parents' beatings. Voldemort eventually found out that he had plans to take me away and raise me himself. He ordered his death eaters to kill my uncle and… they succeeded." He whispered that last part as he remembered a horrible green flash that had lit up his bedroom one evening.

The man in the front grunted. "Nice story, Riddle," Roland's eye flashed with anger and he tugged a little on the bounds that tied him to the chair. "Now, I want you to tell me where your loyalties lie."

"To my family," He answered and glanced over at Caden and Hermione. The man followed his gaze and nodded rather simply.

"Alright, now this boy, Caden, he's your son, correct?"

Roland raised an eyebrow but answered anyways. "Yes, of course he is."

"And he is also Miss Granger's son?"

"Yeah…" Roland answered, wondering where this was going.

The man nodded again. "Now according to Miss Granger's account of your, uh, time together, you never once hurt her in anyway."

"She did more damage to me than I did to her. I never took advantage of her, or slapped her, or control her, or anything else you can thing of." Roland told him.

"Ok, now here's the big question: how did you escape?" The man asked him.

Roland took his time on that one. Partly because the whole thing had been such a blur, he barely remembered anything himself. "I can't remember, honestly."

"Surely there must be something?" Another wizard pushed.

Roland looked away from the stand of people. Only flashes of that night came to mind, his house-elf running into his room saying they were coming, tripping over the blanket on the staircase as he rushed down to see Hermione, her confused expression when he wanted her to go, and then the big pair of red eyes that looked over at Hermione disgusted. He had never felt so angry in his life at that moment.

"Sorry," Roland said, getting back to the question. "I don't know how I escaped. Perhaps I played dead until they left the house."

"What did He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named have you do for him?" Another witch asked him after it seemed they were not going to get any more information out of him on that subject.

"Well, my first real assignment was to torture that group of students he had capture from Hogwarts." Roland told them and felt as though he made it sound worse when he used a casual tone. "But I couldn't. I freed them instead. Ask her." He pointed to Ginny, whose name he still did not know. No one looked at her and he fell silent as he heard the scratching of quills.

The man in the front spoke up again. "Any other assignments you did for him?"

Roland shrugged. "I was mostly locked away and tortured for that. My father came around would occasionally come to me whenever they were in need of another death eater. I don't remember what I did. My father began to place pretty powerful Imperius curses on me. They became hard to escape from the ones he did to me when I was a kid. I used most of my energy to fight against them and I managed to, and that was when I was ordered to kill Potter's two friends. I only saw Hermione, and I couldn't kill her. I took her back with me and hid her from my father."

"Why have we never received any information on you?" Some one asked.

"What? Do you think my father would go blabbing it out to the world he's got a Gryffindor for a son?" Roland answered instantly. "Most of his followers didn't know about me either."

He saw the man in front raise his eyebrows before suddenly looking down at a piece of parchment in front of him. "We have no record of you ever attending Hogwarts, Mr. Riddle. How can you be–?"

"I'm most like my uncle," Roland interrupted. "My father and mother even said so, and he was a Gryffindor. I wasn't allowed to attend Hogwarts because my father didn't like some Dumbledore person. I was home-schooled."

"Alright, if You-Know-Who had never really claimed you as a son, how did you become a death eater?" The man asked him. "You were discovered by the Dark Mark on your arm, you must've done something to prove you were worthy."

"Voldemort was running out of devoted followers," Roland found himself saying. "I was about 20 when he came up to me and told me I had been raised as the perfect death eater, I was going to become one. I told him no and he didn't take it so well. He hit me with the most powerful Imperius curse he could muster at the time and ordered me to go to spy on Draco Malfoy during his sixth year and to make sure someone did the job."

"So you were there when Dumbledore died?"

Roland nodded. "I was to do it if Draco chickened out. Snape did it instead. My father couldn't have been happier, and suddenly had me throwing a Cruciatus curse at Potter, but Snape blocked it. That made him angry and he order me to leave quickly."

After another rushing sound of scratching quills, the man in front looked Roland straight in the eyes and said to him in somewhat of a cold voice, "That'll be all, Riddle."

The room was filled with complete silence as the man looked down once again at his parchment, rereading what he had wrote. Minutes passed like hours, Roland nervously glanced over at Hermione and Caden. Caden wore the same expression, but looking over at the man instead. Hermione caught his eyes and gave him a small smile while rubbing Caden's back, comforting him. Roland looked down at his tied hands again. What he had told everyone in the room wasn't so bad, was it?

The man finally looked up from his parchment and examined Roland in the chair for another moment. Finally he said, "All in favor of conviction of Roland Marvolo Riddle?"

Roland looked away and shut his eyes. He did not what to know what they thought of him. He felt as though he was five years old again, right after his uncle's death and with no protection from his parents. He could practically feel her hand slapping his cheek and his father's curses. And the same thought would run through his mind every time they did that to him:

This is it.

"_Would you stop ringing that bloody bell? I'm coming!" Roland hollered as loud as he could as he stormed down the stairs. He crossed the room and almost tripped over Binky, who quickly apologized and ran over to the closet and began to bang his head against the door as a punishment. Roland was torn from tearing him away from the door and answering the front door. He ordered Binky to stop as his hand grabbed the doorknob. Binky ignored him and continued on, making Roland's eyes roll as he pulled the door open. _

_His once-calm face had gone from stressed to absolute anger as he looked at the three cloak figures standing before him. The middle one, who was also the one in front, had white blonde hair visible under the hood. "Malfoy," Roland said in a cold tone as he crossed his arms at him. "What brings you here?" _

_Malfoy pulled off his hood and smirked at him, "Same as every time, Roland. Now would you please let us in? It's raining hippogriffs out here." _

_Roland went aside and allowed the three to enter his warm home. He saw Malfoy smirk and laugh at Binky, who was still banging his head against the closet. Roland went up to him, pulled him away from the door, and had him make some coffee for the uninvited guests. _

"_Coffee?" came a deep voice from the cloak man standing to Malfoy's right. "Great, I could use a cup. French vanilla, right?" _

_Tilting his head to get a better look at the man, Roland could not help but wonder out loud, "Zabini?" _

_Blaise ripped off his hood and smirked at him. "That's right, Riddle." He shook his head to get the water off that had leaked through the hood. Roland glared at him as he used his hand to wipe off the drops that had left on his face. _

"_Nice place you got," Blaise said, examining the interior of the house. Binky appeared the next moment with four cups of coffee with another cup of cream on a tray. _

"_Would the master's guests like to sit down?" Binky asked in a small squeaky voice and motioned to the other room. Roland cursed over and over again in his mind. Having them sit down would make them stay longer than he wanted them to, which was not long at all. He followed silently the others as they went into the sitting room. _

_Roland was still glaring at them as he fell into a leather armchair. By now the other unknown man had taken off his hood in order to drink his coffee. He should have known it was Theodore Nott, since he was usually with his best friend, Blaise. _

"_Where are your usual henchmen, Malfoy?"_

"_Why? You don't like us?" Blaise asked. "And I thought we were friends, Riddle."_

_Before Roland had a chance to come up with a comeback, Malfoy answered the original question, "Crabbe was caught and Goyle has been injured," He said as though it was nothing, no surprise to Roland. "But never mind that, Riddle. The Dark Lord wants to know what happened to that mudblood."_

"_Be more specific, young Malfoy," Roland taunted. "There are many mudbloods out there these days."_

"_You know the one I'm talking about!" Malfoy snapped. "Hermione Granger! She's one of Potter's friends. The ones _you_ were sent to kill. What happened to her? She disappeared without a trace."_

_So that was her name, Hermione, Roland thought. It sounded nice to him. Roland avoided the sudden urge to glance over at the door that led to the cellar as well as the prison cells he had built where Granger now resided. He looked Malfoy and the others straight in the eye. "I have absolutely no idea where she went."_

"_How can you be sitting here then when she's out there?" Malfoy exclaimed. _

"_I have better things to do than waste my time looking for her."_

_Malfoy glared at him and crossed his arms as soon as he put down his coffee. "What better things to do? You've got nothing else better to do." He pointed out. _

"_I'm working on another assignment for my father," Roland quickly lied. _

_Blaise and Theodore exchanged glances, before Theodore leaned forward in his armchair and said to Roland, "You haven't seen your father in four days."_

"_Do I need to?" Roland snarled at him. _

_Malfoy almost jumped to his feet. "Exactly my point, Nott! How come you did not report the problem to the Dark Lord?" _

"_Would you?" Roland retorted and got up from his chair. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to." _

"_No, you're not excused from this conversation!" Malfoy said also getting up from his chair. "We have strict orders to demand the whereabouts of Granger."_

"_Well… you've demanded now leave," Roland said and pointed to the door. "I have no idea where she is."_

_Malfoy glared at him, but said nothing. He put his hood back on and made his way towards the door with Nott following him. Blaise lingered behind for a moment to speak with Roland. "You'll be sending me another pack of this stuff, right?" He motioned to the cup in his hand. _

_Roland rolled his eyes and gave him a grin. "Of course, Zabini, like always."_

_Blaise began to head for the door. He suddenly stopped and looked down at his cup then back at Roland, "Eventually… you'll get this cup back. It was nice to seeing you again, Roland." He informed him and left with the cup and followed Nott and Malfoy. _

_Binky appeared with a tray of chicken next to Roland the moment everyone had left. Roland growled and clutched his fist when he saw that not a bite had been eaten, this was the twelfth meal he had slaved over and it was still there, untouched. Binky was also looking down at the tray probably hurt that the good food was wasted once again. "Binky's sorry, Master Roland. Binky couldn't get her to eat it." _

"_Give it to me," Roland told him. "I'll make sure she eats." _

_The house elf handed over the tray to Roland, who quickly marched over to the basement door and down the stairs. He went down the stone hall way and arrived at Cell #4. He was not sure why he had put her in this cell even though the other three before it were empty. Perhaps he wanted to build up the suspense if she discovered that there were three others in front of her. Or maybe he thought that if other death eaters thought that the first three were empty, they would think the others would be as well. _

_Roland opened the door with such force he thought he would have ripped it off its hinges. He saw her lying on the bed with a finger pointing to a stone block. She quickly jumped out of that position and faced him fully with a glare. Roland slammed down the tray at the table and pulled up a chair so he was sitting in it backwards. As she looked at him with her big brown eyes, and Roland could not help but compare them to the color of chestnuts. He liked chestnuts. _

"_What's this?" She asked him as she sat in the chair opposite of him. _

_He got rid of the thought of her eyes out of his mind and returned her glare. "Food," he snarled and pushed the tray towards her._


	13. Epilogue

"Well, this is it." Roland said as he looked away from Hermione and down at his son, who glanced from one parent to the other.

"We're not going to see you again for a long time," Hermione said softly and pulled Caden next to her. "And now after all this, they're taking you away from us."

"Mother!" Caden exclaimed and his entire face went red as a group of kids his own age passed by. "I'll be seeing you at Christmas." He muttered under his breath. "It's not that far off."

"Oh, I can't believe my little boy's going to Hogwarts!" Hermione said as she ruffled Caden's hair and gave him a kiss on the cheek, which he instantly wiped off when he thought she was not looking. His head was now even with her shoulder, but still thin for an eleven year old. Caden gave his parents a small smile before turning around to examine the platform. He took his trunk off the trolley next to his father and wandered over to where a man was loading other trunks into the train. Roland muttered under his breath and was about to grab his son's owl when something attacked his left leg. He yelped and almost dropped the cage.

"Daddy, you've got to see this!" Roland looked down with aggravated eyes into the brown eyes of his five-year old boy, Damian. He was shorter than Caden was when he was his age, but his hair was a bit lighter and still held the same style.

"Damian," Roland growled and pulled his youngest son off of his leg. He ended up holding Damian up so he was facing his father upside down. Roland did not find it amusing as much as his son did and tried to figure out a way to place him down on the ground without dropping him on his head. As soon as he had both his feet on the concrete floor, Damian was pulling him in the direction he came.

Hermione watched from afar as her husband desperately tried to get out of Damian's grip. Ginny appeared behind her with a girl who had the same hair color. They smirked from across the platform at Roland. The girl looked up at Hermione and asked, "Where's Maddie?"

"Right here," another girl who bore a similar resemblance to Hermione appeared from around the corner. Her eyes wandered past her friend and their mothers, past her father and younger brother, and found Caden. She glared at him before returning her gaze to her mother. "Why can't I go with Caden?" She asked. "If he's ready for Hogwarts then so am I. I've read all of his textbooks already."

"You're not old enough yet, and we'll need your help once Caden's gone. I don't think your father's up to handling another baby after Damian." Hermione told her daughter.

"Demon's more like it," Maddie said under her breath and her friend, Lily giggled.

Hermione shrugged and said nothing as she turned her attention back to Ginny, "Is Harry showing up?"

"Are you really that anxious to get Sirius and Damian together?" Ginny asked, raising her eyebrows. Sirius was the Potter's youngest child who looked much like his namesake and had the same personality. Sirius Potter was Damian's age and his best friend, like Lily and Maddie were. "Harry's bringing him up later. We've still got twenty minutes and I don't think Harry will want to miss his goddaughter's first train ride to Hogwarts, not to mention Caden's."

Caden returned from the train, looking over his shoulder to see his younger brother dragged their father out of sight. "Where are they going? Dad will be back to see me leave, right?"

"Of course he will," Hermione said to him, but Caden heard the nervousness in her voice as she too looked over to where they had disappeared. "Oh, I hope this isn't one of Damian's escape tricks. I can't handle another one." Damian had recently been in the muggle world when he saw a street performance involving some man escape from an out-of-control truck after being locked inside a barrel.

"So, I won't be here when the baby's born?" Caden asked suddenly. He had completely forgotten the fact that the baby was due in November and he would be at school.

"Don't worry, Caden." Ron said, coming up to the group with two boxes of sweets. He putting a hand on his shoulder and looked at him seriously. "You can always catch the next one."

At the comment, Hermione went red and slapped him on the arm and muttered something about never having another child after this one. Ginny and the girls hid her as Ron and Hermione began to argue when Tonks appeared with Laurie. Caden's eyes instantly went over to his friend and forgot all about his mother and friend's red faces.

"Hello, Caden." Laurie said to him, sweetly. "Ready for Hogwarts?" She definitely did not look like her four-year-old self. Her hair no longer looked blonde and she was taller, not to mention much less annoying.

"You bet, where's your dad?"

Tonks answered that question for everyone, "He's staying home with Jared. They had a rough not last night." Jared Lupin was a year older than Maddie and Lily, and it did not go unknown to everyone how much they had a crush on the young werewolf. Jared was two when he had been accidentally bitten by another werewolf when he decided it would be a great idea to follow his father out one night while they were vacationing in Eastern Europe. He had hair a bit darker than his older sister's but unlike her, had the personality of his father.

"So where's your wife, Ron?" Tonks asked him.

"Oh, Luna had a deadline to finish last night. She sends her luck to you two," He smiled at Caden and Laurie, who nodded as a thank-you.

"Hold everything!" Harry shouted as he came running up to the group with a camera similar to Colin Creevy's and a boy with untidy black hair, who was laughing, hanging over his shoulder. He was out of breath when he arrived before them and held up one finger, indicating to hold on for a second. The boy slid down off his father and looked around for his friend.

"Over there, Sirius." Roland muttered and pointed to his son in the distance as he appeared behind his wife. Sirius thanked him and ran off to see Damian.

Harry fiddled around with the camera for a moment before motioning to Laurie and Caden to move closer together and smile. An enormous flash filled the platform and Caden and Laurie began to blink rapidly. Harry wanted them to pose for another photo, because he was not sure if he had gotten that one. Ginny was able to convince him that he had a good picture and that they needed their eyesight for their classes.

The train whistled a few minutes later. Roland quickly ran over to load Caden's owl onto the train. Once the cage, with the owl in it, was secured on the train, Roland turned around to see Caden standing in front of him. His mind did not even register his oldest son was standing before him when Caden suddenly gave Roland a big huge and buried his face within his father's robes. Roland smiled and returned his hug. The train whistled again, but Caden still did not let go.

"Caden," Roland said softly to him. "You ready to go?"

He looked up into his eyes and let out a sigh. "Daddy, I lied before. I'm really scared."

Roland's smile faded and he crouched down so he was face-to-face with his boy. He put a hand firmly on his shoulder and with a deep breath said, "Don't worry, kid. You'll learn to love your new home. And who knows? You might not want to leave."

"Of course I'm going to want to leave, Dad. I'll miss you and Mom too much." Caden replied.

"Not your younger siblings?" Roland smirked.

Caden thought about it for a moment. "Well, I'll write to Maddie and I'll want to see the new baby. Tell me if it's a boy or a girl and their name as soon as you know, OK? And as for Damian… well, I guess I could send him something."

"That's my boy," Roland said and gave him another hug. "We'll write to you every week, don't you worry."

He was about to ask his father another question, one that had been on his mind ever since he got his letter and saw the seal. But as he opened his mouth to speak, two rather loud voices yelled from across the platform, "CADEN, WAIT!"

Damian and Sirius appeared out of nowhere, both running towards him with a card so huge, that it took both of them to carry. On the front was the words 'Good Luck, Caden!' written in Damian's messy handwriting. He recognized some of Sirius's drawings on the front, like the train and some of the people, and everything was charmed so it moved. Caden never expected such a thing from two boys such as Damian and Sirius. They gave him the card and ran off without waiting for a thank-you back to the corner where they had been.

Roland smiled and gave his son a pat on the back. "According to Damian, they were working on it for two weeks."

Caden opened the card and could not help but smile at the large picture of everyone Sirius and Damian had drawn. He recognized his mother and father waving back at him as well as Maddie and Lily. Sirius and Damian were perhaps the best drawn and each had a huge smile and were waving frantically up at him. There were the Lupins beside Harry and Ginny off in the left. Ron and Luna were on the right next to the rest of the Weasleys. And in the center, Damian had written in huge letters, 'We'll miss you!'

"Is that why Damian dragged you away?" Caden asked, looking up at him.

Roland nodded. "It was all their idea. I was only needed to make everything move. You should be proud of your brother."

"I never said I wasn't." Caden told him as the train whistled sounded again and he heard Laurie shouting for him to get on the train. "Can you thank them for me?"

He nodded and quickly shrunk the letter and helped Caden onto the train. "Be good." He told him as Hermione came up behind him.

"I will." Caden yelled back as the train began to move. "Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad!" Laurie appeared by his side within a second. They both smiled and waved back at everyone as the train disappeared around the corner.

Roland slowly brought his hand down as Hermione rested her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him. He suddenly felt an empty space form beside him, where Caden normally was. This was the first time he would be away from his son ever since he had been confirmed innocent at his trial, which was almost seven years ago.

Hermione also felt a sense of absence. She had never felt this alone since she had been forced to leave without Roland. Caden had always been with her and always helped her. He had been there to comfort her when she cried and he had tried to cheer her up. He was there before she got married, telling her about the wonderful things they could do now that they were going to be a family. He had been by her side when Damian performed his first escape from a burning tree and tried to keep her from fainting, although it had been Roland who caught her when she fell.

She smiled against Roland's cloak as she remembered landing in his arms and feeling safe and somewhat calm, even though Damian had almost died. Roland will be there for her and she will be there for him. "Caden will be alright, sweetheart." She told him.

Roland rested his head against her and moved so he was now holding her. "I know he will be. He's our son after all. He should do just fine." He kissed the top of her head and smiled.

Damian and Maddie came up to them. They had just finished saying their good-byes to their friends and their families and were anxiously waiting to see what their own parents were doing since they were completely blinded that the platform was now deserted.

As Maddie impatiently tapped her foot behind them, Damian went around them and looked in the direction of the last sighting of the train. He kind of wished his older brother was coming home already as he imagined how what he would do when he was not with Sirius. Maddie did not share a room with him and never liked playing the stuff he liked to play. Who would be the one who sneaks cookies for him from the counter? Damian wished he knew a growing charm so he could become taller.

"Ready to go?" Maddie asked her parents, looking at the exit, longingly.

"Come on, Damian." Hermione called to her son as Roland began to lead her towards the exit. Damian instantly ran up next to his sister and acted as though he had been there the whole time.

"Well," Hermione said to Roland as they left the platform. "That's that. Not bad for letting our first child go, right?"

**(A/N): Alright, that's the end of _Heartless_. Thanks to everyone who read this and even more thanks to everyone who reviewed. Originally, I had no intention to bring back Roland but I had writer's block after the fifth chapter. Sorry it wasn't a R/Hr story like some people had hoped. But still, I don't think this story is half bad. Thanks again and I wouldn't mind a review.**

**And in case you were wondering, I've had this settting for the epilogue for about a month now and I had to change it around so it wouldn't be exactly like J.K. Rowling's.**


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